Wikipedia:Help desk

↓    Skip to Today's Questions    ↓

Help Page Patrollers are a group of Wikipedians who patrol the help desk and help users who have placed the {{helpme}} template on their talk pages. The patrol is an optional service. Patrollers can come and go, and there is no official sign up process.

Regular patrollers may add {{User HPP}} or {{user help desk}} to their user page:

This user is a help page patroller

This user volunteers at the
Wikipedia Help Desk.

What helpers can do

• Make sure all messages are formatted correctly,
• Answer questions,
• Check the Help Me Category and answer questions from users,
• Check archives

Patrollers

Add yourself with

#~~~ (Joined ~~~~~)

and if you are not using the userbox, add yourself to the Help Desk Patrol Category.

List

1. Levonscott User talk:Levonscott User:Levonscott (Joined 07:38, 21 August 2011 (UTC))
2. StewieGriffin! • Talk 07:04, 4 June 2008 (UTC) I'm Back Founder of the HPP
3. RyRy5 (talk) (Joined 00:20, 31 May 2008 (UTC))
4. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) (Joined 21:41, 19 April 2008 (UTC))
5. Soxred93 | talk bot (Joined 19:57, 19 April 2008 (UTC))
6. ...... Dendodge.Talk^Help (Joined 09:34, 20 April 2008 (UTC))
7. Alexfusco⁵ (Joined 14:32, 20 April 2008 (UTC))
8. Bauani (talk) (Joined 22:31, 20 April 2008 (UTC))
9. Kerotan^{Leave Me a Message} Have a nice day :) (joined 06:27, 21 April 2008 (UTC))
10. ::Manors:: talk to me (Joined 15:10, 22 April 2008 (UTC))
11. Sunny910910 ^{(talk|Contributions|Guest)} (Joined 02:21, 4 May 2008 (UTC))
12. Teratornis (talk) (Joined 06:37, 5 May 2008 (UTC))
13. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) (Joined 01:54, 13 May 2008 (UTC))
14. Mr. Green^{Hit Me Up}Userboxes (Joined 16:13, 16 May 2008 (UTC))
15. Josh Powell (talk) (Joined 14:18, 23 May 2008 (UTC))
16. -- ShinmaWa^(talk) (Joined 19:47, 28 May 2008 (UTC))
17. -- Natalya 22:45, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
18. Active earlier this year, hope to regain that. Rudget (Help?) 13:23, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
19. ChristopherJames2008 (talk) (Joined 13:35, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
20. Iamzork (talk) (Joined 11:22, 6 June 2008 (UTC))
21. Cedarvale1965-08 (talk) (Joined 02:30, 15 June 2008 (UTC))
22. :-) Stwalkerster [ talk ] (Joined 16:12, 15 June 2008 (UTC), but have been doing this for ages)
23. –thedemonhog talk • edits (Joined 18:13, 15 June 2008 (UTC); made twenty-three edits to the help desk page prior to joining the patrol)
24. IaM7DeadlySins (talk)
25. Scottydude _talk (Joined 02:09, 14 July 2008 (UTC))
26. TermyJW - The One and Only (Joined 13:41, 14 July 2008 (UTC))
27. Eric (mailbox) (Joined 04:53, 23 July 2008 (UTC))
28. Etineskid (talk) (Joined:18:32, 23 July 2008 (UTC))
29. ukexpat (talk) (Joined 15:01, 26 August 2008 (UTC))
30. LegoK^ontribsT^alkM (Joined 00:51, 12 September 2008 (UTC))
31. Chamal ^talk _work (Joined 15:20, 16 October 2008 (UTC), but have been contributing to Help desk long before signing up here.
32. Genius101 ^Guestbook (Joined 22:28, 18 October 2008 (UTC))
33. Excirial ^{(Contact me,Contribs)} 06:46, 19 June 2009 (UTC)
34. -Porchcrop ^{(talk|contributions)} 04:29, 28 June 2009 (UTC)
35. $\xi ri\pi i\vartheta \alpha \xi$ (Joined 09:34, 1 August 2009 (UTC))
36. Unionhawk ^{Talk E-mail} 18:16, 4 September 2009 (UTC)
37. LbB (Joined 14:33, 5 October 2009 (UTC))
38. Mysdaao ^talk (Joined 15:50, 18 November 2009 (UTC))
39. Enti342 (talk) (Joined 21:30, 20 January 2010 (UTC))
40. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ (Joined 07:04, 3 April 2010 (UTC))
41. œ^™ 23:08, 12 May 2010 (UTC)
42. Bobby122 (talk) (Joined 15:17, 27 June 2010 (UTC))
43. Sainsf--Sainsf<^> (talk) 15:58, 14 July 2010 (UTC)
44. Imagine Wizard (talk • contribs • count) Iway amway Imagineway Izardway. (Joined 13:43, 27 August 2010 (UTC))
45. John of Reading (talk) (Joined 22:01, 4 November 2010 (UTC))
46. —ASPENSTI—TALK—CONTRIBUTIONS (Joined 17:38, 2 March 2011 (UTC))
47. Goswamir14- www.rohangoswami.webs.com (Joined 00:33, 12 April 2011 (UTC))
48. Vibhijain (Joined 11:34, 15 April 2011 (UTC))
49. Electriccatfish2 (talk) (Joined 16:58, 22 June 2012 (UTC))
50. Creeper jack1 (talk) (Joined 21:09, 27 January 2013 (UTC))
51. —Prhartcom (talk) (Joined 02:27, 22 September 2013 (UTC))
52. Denver C. (talk) (Joined 16:36, 9 May 2015 (UTC))
53. Masssly (talk) (Joined 18:12, 12 June 2015 (UTC))
54. MarkYabloko (Joined 07:45, 11 November 2015 (UTC))
55. Boomer Vial^{Holla! We gonna ball!} (Joined 20:50, 24 February 2017 (UTC))
56. TheDoctorWho (talk) (Joined 02:46, 13 January 2018 (UTC))
57. Sam Sailor (Joined 21:49, 6 April 2019 (UTC))
58. Kichu🐘 ^Discuss (Joined 11:08, 3 March 2021 (UTC))
59. Jack Reynolds (talk to me!) (email me!!) (Joined 12:30, 1 April 2021 (UTC))
60. Kk09771 (talk) (Joined 17:21, 27 January 2022 (UTC))
61. ThatOneWolf ^{(talk|contribs)} (Joined 23:03, 9 November 2023 (UTC))

See also

• Wikipedia:Editor assistance (WP:ASSIST)
• Wikipedia:Help desk/How to answer
• Wikipedia:Patrols (WP:PATROL)
• User:Useight/Highly Active

Welcome—ask questions about how to use or edit Wikipedia! (Am I in the right place?)

• For other types of questions, use the search box, see the reference desk or Help:Contents. If you have comments about a specific article, use that article's talk page.
• Do not provide your email address or any other contact information. Answers will be provided on this page only.
• If your question is about a Wikipedia article, draft article, or other page on Wikipedia, tell us what it is!
• Check back on this page to see if your question has been answered.
• For real-time help, use our IRC help channel, #wikipedia-en-help.
• New editors may prefer the Teahouse, a help area for beginners (but please don't ask in both places).

Ask a question

June 27

wikiporno?

Is www.wikiporno.org part of wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.77.209.192 (talk) 01:19, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Heh, no. Wikis are used by many different organisations and people, and the Wikimedia Foundation (which runs Wikipedia) is just one of them. They're totally separate. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 01:22, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

For a list of all the projects operated by Wikimedia, see Wikimedia Foundation#Wikimedia projects. —Kal ^(talk) 02:30, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Like a lot of wikis, they use the same free MediaWiki software as Wikipedia, so many things in the sites look similar although Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation has no affiliation with them. http://www.wikiporno.org/wiki/About says "The project was begun in 2006 and was inspired by Wikipedia". PrimeHunter (talk) 10:47, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

My Signature

Hi! I just used this yesterday and I'm going to use it again. Today, I tried to change my signature from DA PIE EATER to [[User talk:ilikepie2221|<c=red>DA</c>]] [[User:ilikepie2221|<c=orange><big>PIE</big></c> <c=yellow>EATER</c>]]. I'm pretty sure that in the <c> tags, I need a number, not the color's word itself. I'm just asking what are the numbers? DA PIE EATER (talk) 02:22, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

The <c> tag doesn't work here, you'll have to use <span style="color: red;">DA</span> and such, which makes DA. The <span> tag doesn't need to have hex codes (numbers) in them, words will work fine. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 02:35, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

For future reference, see Web colors for some common colors :) —Kal ^(talk) 02:48, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Cultural Backgrounds

How do I look up my cultural background or ancestors? If possible. --Tralene Sasso (talk) 04:51, 27 June 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. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 04:54, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Hypercard - changes that eliminated a reference to my stack Unprotect XCMD

Several months ago I was reading about HyperCard and came across a reference to a stack that I had written called "Unprotect XCMD." Recently I went back to look for it again and the whole HyperCard section had been rewritten. It looked like the people who created HyperCard redid the story and replaced what was originally there and which had probably had been written by the users of HyperCard rather than the creators. Both versions seemed equally valid so I have no complaint with the new version. I hope though that it is possible to retrieve all previous versions of a page like uncovering one city on top of another at an archeological dig. If this is the case and I hope it is, how do I go about locating the previous layers of pages the lead back into the past? John Durocher <e-mail redacted> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.4.102.105 (talk) 06:01, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

It is possible to see all old versions of articles if you click on the "History" tab on the top of the page. It is to the right of "edit this page". Have a nice day!--SJP (talk) 06:46, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

If you play around in the history section, you should be able to figure out how to compare versions — (these comparisons are known as "diffs"). See Help:Page history for more info. $\sim$ Lenoxus " * " 19:01, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

I asked the original question above. I searched using the "History" tab and could find no reference to my stack/XCMD Unprotect XCMD which someone had entered in an earlier version. Does this mean it was thrown away and more importantly that data in general can be thrown away? If so this site will be much less interesting to me. I think every clearly non-obscene comment should be preserved whatever is left floating on the top page as the current consensus. Every controversy with its tail of flaming bloguments is interesting and in my opinion worth saving. So is everything saved or not? If it is how come I can’t find what I’m looking for using either Wwikipedia’s search engine or Google’s?

Financial aid

(request for money removed). —Preceding unsigned comment added by Legesse desalegn (talk • contribs) 09:34, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Sorry but this is not a place to ask for money. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:37, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Differecnes

How is [[Category:Blue Ensigns|British Indian Ocean Territory]] different from [[Category:Blue Ensigns|A]]?68.148.164.166 (talk) 07:58, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

In most cases, the text after a pipe is the "show text." [[The weather in London|Timmy]] produces Timmy. With categories, the text after a pipe is the "sortkey" -- when looking at pages in a category, they'll be sorted alphabetically (using the sortkey if one is provided, or the page name if not). Among other uses, this is helpful for biographies, since we want to alphabetize those by last name, rather than first name. WP:SORTKEY has some more information. – Luna Santin (talk) 08:20, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

But what about [[Category:Blue Ensigns|British Indian Ocean Territory]]? Category:Blue Ensigns does not have a category: British Indian Ocean Territory.68.148.164.166 (talk) 10:08, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

It determines the sort order among the pages listed in Category:Blue Ensigns. If an article contains [[Category:Blue Ensigns|British Indian Ocean Territory]] then it will sorted in the category like if the article had been called "British Indian Ocean Territory" (but the real name will still be displayed). It's practical to have an article like Flag of the British Indian Ocean Territory sorted under B for "British Indian Ocean Territory" instead of F for "Flag of ..." in a category like Category:Blue Ensigns. So I have reverted your edit.[1]. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:25, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Flag of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and Flag of the Cape Colony are currectly listed under F in Category:Blue Ensigns because they have no sortkey for the category. If nobody else has changed it already then you can fix it by editing those articles and see how they change their placement in the category. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:32, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Citing References

I'm adding an article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuzuyu) but I can't figure out how to make a reference (Like this^[1]) link to the URL on the bottom of the page. T_T —Preceding unsigned comment added by GentleSpringRain (talk • contribs) 11:20, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Use the syntax <ref>http://www.example.com</ref>. You can also put a template like {{cite web}} inside the <ref> tags. Xenon54 11:32, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

You would put the "<ref>http://www.example.com</ref>" where you want each^[1] to appear, and then just put <references/> where you want the list of actual reference text to be (i.e., in the "References" section of the article). I updated Kuzuyu to show you in-place.

If you wanted to use the same reference twice, you could name it the first time it appears — <ref name="reusable-reference">http://www.example.com</ref> — and then to point to that same reference in another place you can just do <ref name="reusable-reference/> to say that it is the same one. How's that? --_{tiny plastic} Grey Knight ⊖ 11:41, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

The chart below should help:

Formatting references using inline citations

Inline citation code; what you type in 'edit mode'	What it produces when you save
Two separate citations.<ref>Citation text.</ref><ref>Citation text2.</ref> Multiple<ref name="multiple">Citation text3.</ref> citation<ref name="multiple" /> use.<ref name="multiple" /> References {{reflist}}	Two separate citations. Multiple citation use. References
Templates that can be used between <ref>...</ref> tags to format your references {{Citation}} {{Cite web}} {{Cite book}} {{Cite news}} {{Cite journal}} Others Examples

--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 11:45, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Thank you so much! GentleSpringRain (talk) 11:44, 27 June 2008 (UTC)GentleSpringRain

I have a tutorial at Wikipedia:WikiProject Scouting/References that includes troubleshooting. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 12:03, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Also see WP:EIW#Citetools and {{Google scholar cite}} for some tools for finding references and/or generating citation templates automatically. --Teratornis (talk) 16:19, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Forgottan Login Password

It is unfortunate that I have forgotton my login password. I havn't even supplied my e-mail ID when account was created, so I cannot receive the e-mail about new password. What is remedy? I just know my login ID. Please help by conveying way to retrive password and allow me to contribute again. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.212.170.166 (talk) 12:01, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

This is why you should have supplied an emailadress. We are very sorry, but there is no way that we can retrieve your password. Your only option now is to create a new account. --TheDJ (talk • contribs) 13:21, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Statistical analysis

Is it possible to search wikipedia for the number of articles that contain a specific phrase, rather than view every article? 87.86.35.34 (talk) 13:22, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

If you look at the left-hand side of the page near the top, you'll see a search bar. Alternately, you can look here or here. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 13:37, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

See Help:Search to learn about Wikipedia's built-in search feature and its limitations. See WP:EIW#Search for links to third-party search tools. You can use the {{Google wikipedia}} template to search for exact phrases on Wikipedia, for example:

• Search Wikipedia with Google for: "statistical analysis"

but Google's custom search feature provides no simple way that I know of to restrict the search only to articles; Google may also find the search phrase on pages in the other Wikipedia namespaces. (The {{Google custom}} template lets you search individual namespaces on Wikipedia; but unlike all the other namespaces, the main article namespace has no prefix, and thus nothing we can use to tell Google to search only there.) If you want to analyze Wikipedia statistically, see WP:EIW#Query and WP:EIW#Research. --Teratornis (talk) 16:15, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

LOOKING FOR A JOB AT SINGAPORE

DEAR SIR, I AM WORKING AS A CHIEF ENGR IN MSC. I HAVE 18 YEARS WORK EXPERIENCE.I HAVE 54 MONTHS WORK EXPERIENCE AS A CHIEF ENGR. I WOULD LIKE TO JOIN IN YOUR GOOD COMPANY AS A SURVEYOR. NOW I AM AT HOME. I AM READY TO JOIN AND I WILL BE AVAILABLE BY 15TH JULY 2008.

PLEASE ADVISE. BEST RGDS.

CHIEF ENGINEER DHAKA, BANGLADESH. <redacted> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.190.33.94 (talk) 16:32, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over two million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with an article on an association which is hiring or to which you would like to apply for a job. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the online free encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is a help desk for asking questions related to using the encyclopedia. Thus, we have no inside track on the subject of your question; we are not the organization to which your job application is intended, nor are we affiliated with that organization. Best of luck.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 17:06, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

And don't submit your application in ALL CAPS - it looks pretty terrible...... Dendodge .. Talk^Contribs 18:04, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Not only does it look bad, it means that you are yelling which is frowned upon here at Wikipedia. Please do not do that again. Thanks, RyRy5 (talk) 00:17, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

I did an ip trace to see if this was someone just goofing off. Or if it was something we might should delte. turns out the IP is in Bangladesh. I think I should atleast delete his name.Swampfire (talk) 00:51, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Signpost

What's going on with the Wikipedia Signpost? It used to be updated on Monday or Tuesday, but recently it's been much, much later. Last week, it wasn't updated at all, and it still hasn't been!75.104.128.59 (talk) 16:35, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

I had been wondering about this as well, but the new one came out yesterday, I think. Here is a note about the recent delay, looks like it was a temporary thing. AlexiusHoratius (talk) 16:39, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Drawn images, licensing?

I've drawn out a few very small resolution images for use in the article, Raven (game show). They are not screenshots, but they are a pretty accurate representation of the ones used on the show, which themselves look hand drawn; I drew these to solve an edit dispute with regards to their naming, and I uploaded them as free content. I'm now beginning to have my doubts as I am not the person that designed them, but I cannot find a license that would cover them under non-free content from the choices presented to me on the image upload box. As trifling as it might appear to other editors I am really interested in your opinions as I would like to get this one right, as I mean no offence to the show's crew, the producers, or the designers who originally came up with these, by claiming I have copyright, which is what the free-use template seems to be implying. Can they remain as free content, and regardless, if I do put them as non-free, what license would you choose? SynergyBlades (talk) 17:24, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

The problem we face here is how close do they resemble the copyrighted images? If they are sufficiently original they are not a violation of the copyrights, but then again, if they are original then they may violate WP:NOR. Your talking about this image, right? ---J.S (T/C/WRE) 18:51, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Good point about NOR - I think, to avoid that possibility, they are close enough to be classed as something taken from the screen - just very clear, very specific screenshots. :) In that case I could use the TV screenshot non-free template; it just seemed like they didn't quite fit into one specific category (I even looked at logo, but that didn't seem to be appropriate either). Thanks for the help though, I shall consider which to put in. SynergyBlades (talk) 22:04, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Ancient Middle-Eastern Mythology Templates

These are a real mess. I'd like to clean them up, but such an action will likely result in toe-stepping, and I'm not sure where to discuss the issue because it spans so many pages, and most of the relevant Talk pages haven't seen any traffic in a long time.

There are a bunch of templates for the "Myths of the Fertile Crescent series", each of which differs from the rest in inappropriate ways:

• Template:Fertile Crescent myth
• Template:Fertile Crescent myth (Arabian)
• Template:Fertile Crescent myth (Levantine)
• Template:Meso_myth

And then there's this list which isn't part of that self-described "series", but is apparently an independent stab at the same info:

• Template:Middle Eastern deities

Anyway, my question is this: Where should I be talking about the cleanup I think is necessary, given the disjointed nature of the subjects in question? E^robson (T^alk) 20:12, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Look at the talk page for {{Meso_myth}} and you will see that is is under the purview of Wikipedia:WikiProject Ancient Near East. Discuss this on their talk page, and consider joining that project. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 21:09, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Okay, I'll give that a try. Thanks! E^robson (T^alk) 21:41, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

How to use Contents in Navigation

I am trying to enter a backstory on a fictional character but cannot access the contents page to put in (i.e. Personal History, Background, etc..) Can you please ashow me the correct link. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Miker3870 (talk • contribs) 20:41, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

You can simply click the "Edit" link at the top of the page to edit the page's contents. Gary King (talk) 20:54, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Remember titles are like this:

== History ==

And make sure it is notable.

See Help:Section (especially Help:Section#Table of contents (TOC)). --Teratornis (talk) 22:19, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

The table of contents is generated automatically. You just put in the section headings in the articles with two equals signs on each side, as Teratornis suggested, and they will automatically appear in the table of contents. ☺ Coppertwig (talk) 02:23, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Just for the record, I did not give the example of formatting the section heading. A previous editor added that, but had an unclosed nowiki tag that ate the signature. I closed the tag, but then the previous editor's (unprocessed) signature tag was going to show up incorrectly as my signature, so I deleted it. My comment begins with: See Help:Section. --Teratornis (talk) 14:51, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Add

how do i add an "article" (thats what ill call it) i dont see it anywhere someone please help me! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Reesespiece100 (talk • contribs) 22:57, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Hi there. Type the name of your new article into the search box on the left, and press Go. It will tell you that "No page with that title exists". Now you want to look for "Create the page including your references" (should be a red link). Click that, and away you go. :) SynergyBlades (talk) 23:00, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Please see Your first article.

1. Ensure that you have an account and you are logged in. If you don't have an account, create one
2. Make sure the subject is notable enough to have their own article.
3. Find references
4. Make sure no article on the subject exists under a different title by typing the subject into the search box to the left (←) and clicking 'Search'
5. Type the page name in the search box to the left (←) and click 'Go'
6. Click 'Create this page'
7. Create the article, including all your references, making sure you adhere to the Manual of Style and our article layout guidelines
8. Be aware that Wikipedia deletes thousands of new articles for failing to adhere to our policies and guidelines. New articles by new users are at extra risk of deletion, due to new users' unfamiliarity with our rules. Consider gaining experience by editing existing articles before attempting to create new ones. Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box which looks like this: . Do NOT sign in articles....... Dendodge .. Talk^Contribs 23:02, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

June 28

No longer autoconfirmed

I'm sure that I was an autoconfirmed user (I moved a page a day and a half ago), but I can no longer move pages, I was required to type the words in a CAPTCHA to add an external link, and I'm not listed as autoconfirmed in my preferences. Why? Greg Neer 00:02, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

That's really strange. It happened to another user too... don't know what to say.. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 00:14, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Hmm... Oh, well... Greg Neer 09:42, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

I've taken this up with the Village Pump. Per a query on the admin IRC channel, I was advised to block the user pending investigations. This should not happen; and technically, it can't happen. PeterSymonds (talk) 10:10, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Though I don't know the exact reasons given on the off site discussion that resulted in the idea to block this user "pending investigation", I don't think you were advised well and should reconsider this block. What goal of protecting the project from harm or future harm (the only reasons we block) warrants this? By the way, you should also be aware that there is a very long history of incredible drama and a general consensus that it is a very bad idea to block anyone based on a discussion conducted off site. I understand well that this block is considered neither preventative nor punitive, and that you posted to the user's talk page explaining that it's based on some type of technical concern, but I can't understand what technical concern could be addressed by the block, and of course, again, the discussion was off wiki, so I and everyone else can't see for ourselves.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 10:53, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Point taken. I know the dangers of off-wiki discussion, but this wasn't a discussion; I was just told to. The admin was Chris G (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA), who's more experienced than I am. "Pending investigation" was my own term for it being brought up at the VPT; it's not endorsed by anyone else. I've unblocked and am leaving a note at Chris G's talk page. I agree that this should be kept solely on-wiki, even though there was no secret discussion that went ahead off-wiki. PeterSymonds (talk) 11:12, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Ok this was a bit of a misunderstanding on my part. To get everthing out in the open this is what was said in the irc channel(posted with permision)

<PeterSymonds> Anyone know why/how Autoconfirmed status would be revoked?
<PeterSymonds> Two users have complained about it on the help desk

I though he was asking about how to remove auto confirmed so I responded:

<Chris_G> PeterSymonds, block the user

PeterSymonds then blocked the user thinking it would do something to help get back to autoconfirmed. So all just a misunderstanding --Chris 11:29, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

GregNeer, you don't use Tor (anonymity network) do you? That could cause you to lose autoconfirmed status. Prodego ^talk 11:43, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

What? Why the hell would you block a user? — Werdna talk 10:00, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Adding a picture?

How do you add a picture to a wikipedia page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.125.82.244 (talk) 00:51, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Click on the fifth icon from the left in the edit toolbar to insert an image, or alternatively, simply type in [[Image:Example.jpg]]. Gary King (talk) 01:14, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Usually, images are uploaded to Commons, and can easily be displayed from there in a Wikipedia article. To upload an image to Commons, see commons:Commons:Upload. To display a file in a Wikipedia article, see Help:Images and other uploaded files or just use the filename of the image on Commons in a format as Gary suggested above, or for example [[Image:Example.jpg|right|400px|thumb|Put the image caption here.]] to display it at the right in 400 pixel size with a caption. ☺ Coppertwig (talk) 02:19, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Is it possible to shrink an infobox?

I was hoping I might be able to shrink a UK school Infobox. Is this possible? They can be awfully cumbersome. 79.77.150.110 (talk) 02:21, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

You can't resize it, if that's what you mean. You can adjust the horizontal width, however, but adding a fixed width to it. Is that what you want to do? Gary King (talk) 02:40, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Do you mean hide/show the box? Have a look at Seventh Doctor#Audio dramas; there is a box that you have to click on "show" to display the contents. That is called a Navbox - information about the template for these collapsible boxes may be found here. You can find more information about information boxes in general here. StephenBuxton (talk) 11:09, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

It helps if you are more specific. If you are asking if you can change the width of {{Infobox UK school}}, then the answer is not readily. That infobox—as are most others—has a set width, in this case 21em. That is a minimum, as an image that is too large will force it wider. If you want to change that set width, you will need to discuss it on the {{Infobox UK school}} talk page. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 15:19, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Putting category= inside a thing inside a thing

Moved to Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)

 – per conversation below $\sim$ Lenoxus " * " 18:49, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm working on the new redirect meta-template {{This is a redirect}}, which embeds other templates as chosen by the user. I'm trying to get it so that if one uses the template with "cats=no", then none of the embedded templates give their categories. (With many templates that categorize, one can use the argument "category=" to cause no categorizing to happen, as explained here.)

Simplifying it somewhat, here's an example of what I'm dealing with:

{{#if:{{{1|}}}|{{R_{{{1}}}|{{#ifeq:{{{cats}}}|no|category=|}}|embed=yes}}|}}

Using tests with substing and {{R from brand name}}, I found that currently, what happens is that the embedded template takes "category=" as the content of its first argument (that is, it thinks "1=category="). (Everything else works.)

I've tried using a template whose content was literally {{{1}}}, so it might "print" the string "category=", but no luck. What does work is to put the "category=" before the ifeq, so that {{R from brand name}} takes the argument "category=result of ifeq" — but that won't ultimately work with what I'm trying to do.

Any ideas? $\sim$ Lenoxus " * " 04:38, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

It's possibly due to having templates within templates confusing things. Hmmm... RichardΩ612 Ɣ ɸ 08:33, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

This is weird, I can see no reason why it's not working. As Lenoxus mentioned, it seems to take the cats param as part of {{{1}}}. Odd indeed; I will have another look later. If anyone else solves it in the meantime, I would be very interested to know how! RichardΩ612 Ɣ ɸ 10:21, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Just as a general observation, the MediaWiki parser may contain bugs. Some templates on Wikipedia do not work on other MediaWiki wikis that aren't running HTML Tidy - that's probably not a factor here, but it points out how MediaWiki's wikitext syntax isn't well-defined for some of the complex template stuff. And of course your example above uses the ParserFunctions extension. You might want to ask on WP:VPT which a larger number of technically-inclined users frequent. It would be nice if MediaWiki had a template debugger, that would let one step through all the transclusions and parameter expansions in the order that MediaWiki's parser (and possibly, HTML Tidy) apply them. --Teratornis (talk) 15:41, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Google picks up my sandbox contents

I was just Googling a subject about which I'm writing an article, and one of the search results was the very, very rough draft in my sandbox. Er, I don't think this is a good thing. Have I skipped some important step to prevent this from happening? --hamu♥hamu (TALK) 05:10, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

There isn't a way, the robots.txt at http://en.wikipedia.org/robots.txt prevents Google's web crawlers from seeing stuff like special pages, but doesn't prevent the search engine crawlers from crawling the user: space. Additionally, there isn't a way to hide your userspace from them. By posting your things to Wikipedia, you agree to let anyone with internet access see it. If you don't want to, don't post it. That's one of the fundamental rules of the Internet, as well as Wikipedia. So to answer your question: no, it's normal, and you haven't forgotten any step or anything. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 05:52, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Okay, makes sense. Thanks very much! --hamu♥hamu (TALK) 05:54, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

On an un-related note, it's interesting how there's a lot of questioners but almost no answerers around about right now. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 05:57, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

You can hide your sandbox from Google by blanking it while you are not editing it. Google only indexes the current revision of a page. Google does not see into the page history (which is part of the so-called Deep Web). When you want to come back and work on your sandbox again, revert it to your previous revision that contains your actual content. Presumably you will only spend a few hours editing here and there, minimizing the "window" during which Google might happen to index your sandbox again, but most of the time your sandbox page will appear blank to Google's indexing bot. Thus the odds would be greater that Google would see a blank sandbox page. See: Help:History and Help:Revert. Also, Google appears to index all of Wikipedia except article talk pages, but that probably doesn't help in this situation because you aren't allowed to use an article talk page as your personal sandbox. --Teratornis (talk) 14:45, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Also, as Wikipedia is not your blog or personal web host, I don't see any valid reasons to hide things from Google. Oops, Calvin already said this... carry on. Tan | 39 14:48, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Google's PageRank algorithm tends to elevate Wikipedia pages in its search results. Thus the sandbox page might appear higher in the search results than its rough-draft status might warrant. Whether that is good or bad could depend on the person who searches - an extremely naive user might believe everything on the sandbox page, but such a user will be at risk from indiscriminately believing other Web pages. I have found some useful pages in the User: namespace by searching Wikipedia with Google, and I can usually figure out when I'm seeing a rough draft. For example, I might notice the word "sandbox" in the page title. --Teratornis (talk) 15:12, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

You can add {{userpage}} to the top of your sandbox page. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 15:22, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

(outdent) I think the reason for not wanting Google to index sandbox pages is obvious. I have literally dozens of half-formed articles in my user space at any one time. I do not care in the least who reads them and am certainly not going to go to the trouble of trying to hide any of it. However, it will do no good to the reputation of Wikipedia if innocent Google searchers are picking up these half baked essays and taking them to be "proper" articles. This could so easily happen, the average Google user is unlikely to be an experienced wiki editor able to distinguish article space from userspace. It should be possible for users to specify "norobots" on a userpage. Apologies for soapboxing, I am now going to the bottom to ask the question I came here for. By the way, I believe Google weights the results according to your past browsing history so it is quite likely to give you results from your own userspace near the top, but a long way down for everyone else. SpinningSpark 18:00, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

How would Google obtain my past browsing history? The PageRank article says nothing about that. --Teratornis (talk) 07:38, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Creating a new page: 2 persons with the same name

Resolved

 – (Article Thomas Lund (ballet dancer) has been created.) $\sim$ Lenoxus " * " 02:48, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Hello, I am about to create a page on the ballet dancer Thomas Lund of the Royal Danish Ballet. But since there is all ready a Thomas Lund (a Danish badminton player) listed, I'd like to know what to do, so I don't mess up!!! Can you help me in this matter?

Kindly Henrik Emmer —Preceding unsigned comment added by Henrikemmer (talk • contribs) 05:58, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

The easiest thing to do, and probably the right thing to do, is create your own article at the title Thomas Lund (ballet dancer). Then add the text

  {{For|the ballet dancer of the same name|Thomas Lund (ballet dancer)}}

To the top of the existing article, Thomas Lund. This will place a notice at the top of the article that the other article exists. This is only one of several possible ways of doing this, which you can read about at Wikipedia:Disambiguation. But since there are presently many links to the existing article on Thomas Lund, it's easiest to leave that where it is. Also, make sure to read Wikipedia:Your first article before creating it. Someguy1221 (talk) 06:22, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

As you edit: Thomas Lund, ballet dancer, please type edit summaries. Also read Help:Talk page and follow Wikipedia's talk page guidelines, especially: sign your talk page comments. See WP:RS, WP:FOOT, WP:CITE, and WP:LAYOUT. If English is not your native language, you can request copyediting assistance. --Teratornis (talk) 15:25, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Article creation

how to makean article —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rexter (talk • contribs) 06:54, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Before creating an article, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.

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

If you still think an article is appropriate, see Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 07:48, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

external links

How do I put in an external link while editing?

Pdavidh (talk) 07:08, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

You copy the URL, and then you format the rest like the following, pasting the URL between the two brackets: [URL goes here link title here]. Thanks, RyRy5 (talk) 07:11, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

There are three basic forms: formatting the link as RyRy5 states above using a bracket on either side results in one of these: [2]; if you use no brackets, then you get the url as the link (http://www.example.org), and if you place a space before the trailing bracket and type something, whatever you type becomes a clickable link: [http://www.example.org example text] results in example text. If you want to use an external link as a reference in an article, please see WP:CITE and WP:CITET and {{Refref}}. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 07:45, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Also, you can use {{cite web}} to cite a website ass a reference. Anonymous101 (talk) 12:26, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

And see WP:FOOT. Some citation tools can sometimes help you fill out an appropriate citation template. If you told us the link you have in mind, and where you want to put it, we could give you a specific (and therefore more useful) answer. --Teratornis (talk) 15:44, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

FIRE DEPARTMENT DISPATCH LOG

I was wondering if someone could tell me if there is a web site where I can go to and look up a fire department dispach call log for perris california. thank you Personal info removed —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.110.38.183 (talk) 12:47, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Hi there. The Help Desk is to ask questions about using Wikipedia, not to asking question about real life. Cheers, Juliancolton ^{Tropical Cyclone} 12:55, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

The place to ask questions about real life is our Reference desk. You can also try Google search:

• fire department dispatch call log for perris california

or call the fire department in question. --Teratornis (talk) 15:31, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Copyright question

I am very confused and would appreciate your assistance. I have rewritten my father's biography and plan on publishing it for him as a gift. Although not for commercial use, there may be several copies printed for family members/history purposes. With that in mind, I have found it extremely difficult to understand the different copyright requirements (I assure you, not from lack of trying). That said, here are my questions:

1. I have included some historical information from Wikipedia (not the whole book, just a couple of excerpts located in different sections rather than on one page). What specifically do I need to include with regard to GNU copyright and where does it need to be located?

2. Does the entire license need to be included.

3. If the copy right information is placed after the title page, how do I delineate specifically those sections or paragraphs the license refers to?

4. When do I use a tag and how to I determine what tag (they are all greek to me)?

5. Lastly, If I use images from your site, is that a different license? What I need to do differently?

I would very much appreciate your assistanc........

Thank you------Rhonda Allenson

ps. What is invariant?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rallenson (talk • contribs) 13:09, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

I have an answer to questions four and five:

• 4. If you're talking about tags like {{PD-self}}, those are only used when you are uploading images to Wikipedia.
• 5. Each image has its own license. You can find what license the image is under by clicking on it - this will take you to the image information page, where you should find the license tag by scrolling down. If you want to reuse an image, you must abide by the terms of the license the uploader has released it under. This may or may not be the GNU GFDL.

For the post-script, see our Invariant article. Xenon54 13:54, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Ignore everything else, all you have to do is read: WP:C#Reusers' rights and obligations (if you changed what you used from Wikipedia) or Wikipedia:Verbatim copying#Printed Copies if you just copied. Prodego ^talk 14:50, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Hello,

• The invariant section is an optional section to the GFDL - Wikipedia does not require an invariant section, so you can ignore that bit.
• Images have different licenses - click on the picture on Wikipedia to see its description page, where the license will be included. Most images on Wikipedia can be used freely, so long as you attribute the person who took the photograph.
• If you've only quoted a few paragraphs from Wikipedia, with a note saying where it came from, then this will probably be fair use. This is an exemption to copyright; if the quotes you used are fair use, you don't need to license your book under the GFDL.
• Using the GFDL means that the text you write for the book can also be used by others (this is known as copyleft). In this case, you would need to include a copy of the GFDL (most books put this in the appendix, see example).

--h2g2bob (talk) 16:44, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

import a photo into a article

with this embedd file icon I cant import a phota to a text, how to da that ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Heinz10 (talk • contribs) 17:24, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

You are not allowed to upload images until your account is 4 days old. After that, a link to "Upload file" will appear in the toolbox on the left. Click the link and follow the instructions. Make sure that your image has valid copyright permission if you did not create it yourself, otherwise it will get deleted. Happy editing. SpinningSpark 18:24, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

As well as being four days old, your account needs to have made at least ten edits (at present you have two). Algebraist 00:19, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Article titles

Is it possible to place subscripts in an article title? If so, how is it done, I have already tried the <sub></sub> tags and it doesn't work. SpinningSpark 18:17, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Article titles can only contain unformatted characters.--Oni Ookami Alfador^Talk|@ 18:22, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

I wasn't entirely sure, so I created a page and tried using the pagemove feature, but the destination field did not accept unformatted characters so no, there is no way.--Oni Ookami Alfador^Talk|@ 18:26, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

You can put subscripts in the title as seen by the reader with {{downsize}}. Algebraist 22:01, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

You can also put any formatting into an article title by using {{override}}. This allows any formatting to appear at the top of the page. - tholly ^--Turnip-- 20:37, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Template for incomprehensible article

What is the right template for an article which is incomprehensible to the layman? DuncanHill (talk) 18:42, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps {{cleanup-jargon}}; see Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup for more. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 20:13, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps {{confusing}} or {{obscure}}? Bencherlite^Talk 20:16, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

I went for {{technical}}, but all the above would be suitable too. Many thanks. DuncanHill (talk) 20:18, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Require List of India's pincodes by State in xl or Pdf file

Dear Sir,

Kindly go through our background or vision of Organization: -

Dada Bhagwan Foundation has been set up with the objective of spreading spiritual, social & moral awareness and upliftment amongst all the classes of society irrespective of caste, creed, religion or community. The Foundation is a non-profit making organization.

Visit at: - www.dadabhagwan.org

Our Requirement:-

We are distributing the monthly magazine under name “DADAVANI” to all over India and foreign in 3 different language(Guj / Eng / Hindi). We have more than 30,000 membership currently active.

For better distribution purpose and efficiently spreading the spiritual awareness amongst our community, we require updated India’s pin code database in xl or pdf format. With the help of this we can easily get the missing pin codes of India.

Also let us know if any charges / cost we have to pay?

Kindly reply as early as possible.

Thanks & Regards, Dada Bhagwan Foundation Dipesh Gangar Simandhar City Personal info removed —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.125.170.59 (talk) 19:09, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 6.8 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck.

Alternatively, you might like to visit the IndiaPost website

Astronaut (talk) 23:40, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Sandbox

Resolved

 – Sandbox created. $\sim$ Lenoxus " * " 18:36, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Can i create a own sandbox? AlwaysOnion (talk) 20:05, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Of course, simply create it in your own userspace (for example User:AlwaysOnion/sandbox). Click the link I provided and test there. If you want the page to be deleted at any time, then you can tag it with {{db-u1}} and an admin will (usually) delete it relatively quickly. RichardΩ612 Ɣ ɸ 20:08, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

And it's also a good idea in my experience to add the {{User Sandbox}} template at the top just so it's clear to all that it is a sandbox (well if you give the sub-page a name other than "sandbox"). – ukexpat (talk) 13:09, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

New template Talkarchivehist

I wrote User:Flatscan/Template:Talkarchivehist based on Template:Talkarchive. It displays useful historical links below the header, as described in Help talk:Archiving a talk page#Cut-and-paste archiving: Increasing transparency. It appears to work in my limited testing, but any fixes or optimizations are welcome. Is there anywhere to request non-technical feedback?

Sample Special:ExpandTemplates input (currentpage parameter may be omitted):

• Context title: Talk:UCLA Taser incident/Archive 1
• {{User:Flatscan/Template:Talkarchivehist|188869483|197075453|20080204010900|currentpage=Talk:UCLA Taser incident}}

Thanks. Flatscan (talk) 02:56, 27 June 2008 (UTC) —cross-posted from Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#New template Talkarchivehist as suggested there

• Is there a specific place to request comments on templates? If not, I'll just mention it on the Talk page I linked above and start using it myself.
• When should I move it from my user space into the Template namespace? I'm confident that it works properly, but I want to make sure that there are no formal procedures that I missed.

Thanks. Flatscan (talk) 22:56, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Go ahead and be bold — you won't (as far as I know) be breaking any "rule" if you go ahead and create and propogate the template, as long as in doing so, you don't take away any of the functionality of the replaced template (for example, any categorization it may do). $\sim$ Lenoxus " * " 18:46, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Editing

I'm not really sure how to create links and put the links at the bottom of an article. When do I need to make a bibliography? What are Citations? Please post the answers of these questions in my talk page, thanks. John26razor (talk) 23:20, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Hey John26razor. Perhaps reading Wikipedia:Footnotes may help you? Best wishes, —αἰτίας •discussion• 23:25, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

(edit conflict) If you mean references, you put your reference between <ref> and </ref> where you want the little superscript number to appear in the text, and make sure there's a references section containing {{reflist}} where you want the list to appear. The easiest way to see this in action is to pick an article with references in it, and have a look at how they are done by looking at the wiki-markup (ie. click "edit this page" - you don't have to save any changes) Astronaut (talk) 23:30, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

June 29

Arabic wiki

Hello, arabic wiki, is run by three (more) sunni muslim administrators, they block, prevent, any one who tries to put facts on sensitive articles, related to islam, and even related to politics, such as: wikipedia, the caliph othman, etc... Help me please, to progress on this issue, arabic wiki seems to be a heaven for fanatics, nd retrogrades. --81.22.82.30 (talk) 23:29, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm sorry but we have no control over events at another Wikipedia and their administrators. It may be that you can can get something out of bringing up the issue at Meta-Wiki, the site that coordinates all of Mediawiki's projects. You could try their help forum.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:12, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Do you refer to the Arabic Wikipedia? (The word wiki is a general term, and Wikipedia is a more specific set of wikis.) If you refer to the Arabic Wikipedia (as seems likely), note that Wikipedia#License and language editions says:

• ... the various language editions are held to global policies such as "neutral point of view," ...

The neutral point of view inherently conflicts with a literal interpretation of many religions. Religions are based on subjectivity and faith - that is, believing in things for which there is either no evidence, or no conclusive evidence, which is to say, imagination taken seriously - whereas the neutral point of view is more in keeping with the Western philosophic traditions of critical thinking, objectivity, and the scientific method. While millions of religious people from many traditions edit successfully on Wikipedia, they like everyone else with a strong point of view must avoid asserting their opinions, and merely describe them, when they edit articles that touch on their faith. This may be harder for some religious people than others, particularly people who follow the more aggressively proselytizing and intolerant varieties of religious fundamentalism, which may even regard the neutral point of view as a form of, or often leading to, blasphemy. (Someone who believes they possess the Absolute Revealed Truth may have difficulty understanding why any other point of view deserves an equal hearing, and may regard some expressions of other points of view as deeply offensive or even sinful and worthy of violent response - see for example Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy.) Given the intensity of Islamic fundamentalism in some parts of the Arabic-speaking world, it seems inevitable that the objectivist nature of Wikipedia will lead to an ideological conflict. As far as what you can do about it, see the links under WP:EIW#Translate, perhaps: m:Wikimedia Embassy might help. --Teratornis (talk) 16:44, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

• thanks Fuhghettaboutit.

Yes Teratornis, it's the arabic wikipedia, i translated the english article of the caliph ottoman as an example to arabic, but the 3 admins, where extremely harsh on it, nd me, i'm even blocked from editing now, my account is Stayfi, in the arabic wiki.

there's an ideological conflict of coure here, as u know for sure, but if wikimedia embassy can help it, it will be great.

Sorry to bother u again, but help please on this issue (there's an arabic admin, who speaks english, he may confirm that to u, imagine, he's also HELPLESS, THEY ARE A CABAL, a religious one.) --81.22.82.27 (talk) 22:05, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Anyone who knows David Banner

Can you help and fix my articles David Banner production discography.

Thank you.

--Piazzajordan2 (Talk.) 03:06, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

cyclone, typhoon, storm

what is the difference between cyclone, typhoon and a storm? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.60.243.110 (talk) 04:15, 29 June 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. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 04:19, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Instead, how about you save the RefDesk the effort and look at cyclone, typhoon, and storm? Paragon12321 (talk) 04:40, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Also see hurricane and tropical depression. --Teratornis (talk) 07:30, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

334 M.O.B.B.

Can somebody help me out with that page?

--Piazzajordan2 (Talk.) 04:21, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

We don't really do that (but we can tell you where to find help). Perhaps ask the relevant WikiProject to help out? Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 04:30, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

The article has been deleted. I think the speedy deletion tag was correct. One interview is not enough to show notability. If you find more sources, the article should be able to claim notability. Paragon12321 (talk) 04:37, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Firefox looses my cookie

I am a regular Wikipedia user. For some reason Firefox has started dropping my login almost immediately after registering. I have checked my cookie settings and am not otherwise having problems with cookies. What could be the matter? I'm tired of editing through MSIE. 78.149.160.242 (talk) 06:14, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Do you have any cookie-related extensions (see tools, add-ons for a list of extensions)? Also, look at Edit, Preferences (or is that Tools, Options on Windows?) - check the Privacy tab for how long you want cookies to be stored, and check you haven't added Wikipedia to the Exceptions list. Also check the settings of the "clear private data" option, if you use that. Finally, did you remember to check the "remember me" box when you logged in? --h2g2bob (talk) 14:26, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

main heading

Hi.. I was wondering how i can change the main heading for a text.. If you search for EFG International, International is spelled with a little i.. and I want it to be a capital I... Thank you for your help Regards 08:42, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

I've  Done it for you - when autoconfirmed, you can do it yourself by clicking the 'move' tab...... Dendodge .. Talk^Contribs 08:46, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Deleting my page

I wrote an article about myself while I was manic and in agreement with what wikipedia monitors initially told me, I would like to have my page removed. I have edited the "User:Ben.metelits" page by deleting the content, but it still comes up when I google myself. Is there any way to delete my username and all traces of my connection to wikipedia? Had I been psychiatrically stable at the time, there is no way I would have the arrogance and audacity to write a page about myself and now, I'm just embarrassed by the whole thing! How do I resolve this? Please help! Ben Metelits—Preceding unsigned comment added by Ben.metelits (talk • contribs) 09:01, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Put {{db-author}} on the page. I've just done it for you. If you want anything else to be deleted that you've made do the same. I've also removed your email address as it is likely to get spammed a lot etc if it's visible here. --Tombomp (talk/contribs) 09:10, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Google may maintain a cached copy of a page for some time after the original page disappears. Wikipedia has no control over what Google does. Some Internet archive sites such as the Wayback machine may maintain copies of some pages indefinitely. However, the PageRank of obscure pages may be low, pushing them down in Google's search results. On the other hand, if your name is unusual and appears on very few Web pages, a Google search might find all of them and list them on the first page of results. The general rule with information is that once information is on the Web, not even the RIAA's lawyers brandishing the DMCA can precisely control what happens to it. --Teratornis (talk) 17:38, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

trees

am looking for a complete list of trees of united states —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.131.139.33 (talk) 09:11, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Did you mean types of trees? Or a complete list of trees? If it's the former, it's best to ask at the reference desk for humanities. If it's the latter, all I can say is "good luck". :) Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 09:54, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

The science ref desk may have better tree-related knowledge. Also look at Category:Trees of the United States (an incomplete list). --h2g2bob (talk) 14:30, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Search Wikipedia with Google for: list of trees - that finds some articles with various lists of trees. For example, we have a List of Minnesota trees, which gets you about 1/50 of the way there (actually more than that, since many trees inhabit more than one state), if you're looking for a native species list, rather than a list of all the actual trees (we have some articles that list some notable specific trees). Do you want only native trees, or also exotic invader trees? The U.S. has lots of the latter. List of wild mammal species of Florida isn't about trees, but it's a featured list, and if you will make a featured list of all the U.S. trees, I will give you a barnstar. --Teratornis (talk) 02:50, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

can we find a user identity from a username

Hi, I've done some searching for this, and googled the helpdesk archives, but even though I assume it has come up before, I don't know where in the vast world of wikipedia it would be. The problem is this: someone I know has been defamed on a wikipedia page, and I need to know if there is a way we can find out anything about the identity of the perpetrator given the username. Can we get either the person's name, or even just the IP address which they used for their login? 121.221.143.204 (talk) 09:25, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

No. Usernames are hidden from public view. The only way to find an IP address of a user is to do a checkuser, which is limited to only a handful of trusted users. However, this is almost never done, and only in extreme circumstances. See the checkuser policy and the privacy policy. Thanks, PeterSymonds (talk) 09:34, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

We can fix pages if you post the information to the living persons' noticeboard. Please read Wikipedia:Contact us/Article problem/Factual error (from subject), which says "Due to privacy concerns, we will not reveal information such as the IP addresses of registered Wikipedia users, except when mandated by law." While you are considering using a legal route, please do not edit Wikipedia. --h2g2bob (talk) 14:48, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Resizing images already used on Wikipedia

I'm trying to resize some overly-large non-free images already in use on Wikipedia articles. Whenever I do this, I have to reupload the image using the "upload a new version of this image" link on the image page. I then have to re-enter the fair use rationale, re-choose the copyright tag, my "comment" winds up being a big huge ugly mess (generally, it's the entire fair use rationale), and the old image can still be reverted to. See w:Image:YGW Cover 1.jpg. But, I see image pages where the comment is just a concise "resized for fair use reasons" or such, and the old image is totally gone. See w:Image:ID eNTITYvol1cover.jpg. (Actually, I can't make a nice concise comment anytime I upload an image; there is no place to enter your "comment".) What on earth am I doing wrong? I'm so frustrated trying to read the help pages I'm about to rip my hair out. --hamu♥hamu (TALK) 09:39, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

When you re-upload an image, the Summary becomes the comment— it does not replace the current summary text. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 11:32, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Okay, between the help here and from another editor I got this figured out. Because the reupload screen looks identical to the original upload screen and hides all the original content, I thought what gets reuploaded would entirely replace the original content, including more than just the image, and it was causing me no end of stress. LOL Thanks! --hamu♥hamu (TALK) 22:05, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Templates

I'm working with Template:Derivatives market and I just wanted to know how to hide it in the Credit-linked note article. Thanks, Zain Ebrahim (talk) 09:46, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Add |state=collapsed to the transclusion in the article (it's a parameter I just added)...... Dendodge .. Talk^Contribs 09:54, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

I've just  Done it for you...... Dendodge .. Talk^Contribs 09:55, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for that. What did that parameter do exactly? Zain Ebrahim (talk) 09:58, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

It tells the javascript that does the "collapsing" to display this transclusion on the article in the "collapsed state" when the page is first opened in your browser. Normal is to have it in "autocollapse" which means that all boxes will be open when there are fewer than 3 collapsible boxes, and collapse them all if there are 3 or more. See also the documentation section of {{navbox}}. --TheDJ (talk • contribs) 15:39, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Thank you! Zain Ebrahim (talk) 15:56, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Multiple images

I have two images I'd like to add to an article but I'd like them to both be in the same image frame, one above the other so they look like a single image (they're both the same width). Is there a way to do this? In case I'm not clear, have a look at the graphs I did for Gompertz function- there's three separate graphs that I combined to a single image. Could I get three individual images into the same frame if I can't combine them into a single one (they are animated gifs)? Cheers. Reyk _YO! 09:48, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Try {{multiple image}}. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 11:36, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Editing a redirect

Need technical assistance. How to correct redirect(change name and spelling in redirect) without losing original article. I corrected a redirect and after saving there is only a double entry but not original article. Thanks.Caboga (talk) 13:10, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

If you redirect something, the article won't or shouldn't be there anyway. StewieGriffin! • Talk Sign Listen 14:52, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

When you ask about a page, always link to the page. Otherwise, Help desk volunteers have to waste time looking at your contributions to determine what you are trying to ask. On Wikipedia, we do not have simple general rules that work 100% of the time in every situation. Instead we have a set of complex rules which occasionally contradict and give rise to exceptions and special cases (much like law in the real world); therefore, we usually have to see the pages that led to a question, to see which conditional branch we are on. You appear to be asking about House of Kabudžić/Caboga and House of Caboga. The latter appears to be a redirect to the former just now, so whatever the problem might have been, I don't see the problem now. If you want to see the redirect page itself, you have to add &redirect=no to its URL, like this:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=House_of_Caboga&redirect=no

Please read Help:Redirect and WP:MOVE which explain how this works. --Teratornis (talk) 16:13, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

References causing gapping

Hi, I've noticed that when an article contains references this often leads to uneven gapping between the lines of text, see Dartmouth College for example. Is there anyway to overcome such gapping? Jamesmh2006 (talk) 17:02, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

There is a CSS edit that could possibly be made but I think it wasn't a good idea. I wouldn't worry about it - anything with a superscript messes up anyway. For example, ^this messes up this paragraph quite nicely. x42bn6 Talk Mess 17:23, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

I don't see a problem with line spacing in Dartmouth College. I'm using Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.14 under Ubuntu 7.10 (gutsy). The problem may depend on the Web browser. You might find something useful in Wikipedia:Browser notes, or maybe in another link under WP:EIW#Browser. --Teratornis (talk) 17:46, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm using Mozilla Firefox 3 with Windows, and I don't have any problems, what browser are you using? - tholly ^--Turnip-- 20:31, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Copyright and references

How is copyright related to references? How do I tell if a reference can be used in WP? See this page for example. It says "All rights reserved" at the bottom but can I use it as a reference wrt copyright? Zain Ebrahim (talk) 17:24, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

We take information from outside sources to write our articles. If the place we take the information from is in the public domain, or under certain types of free licenses, then you can use the actual words, sentences, paragraphs as they appear appear in the source. By contrast, and for the vast majority of text on Wikipedia, when we use a source, it is copyrighted and our task is to distill from the source the information and write about it in our own words; you must not copy the words used—it is the form of the sentences that is copyrighted, not the information conveyed. Referencing is the act of telling users where you got the information. It is never a copyright violation to tell users where you got the information. The only connection between the references and copyright I can see is that it's sometimes a good idea to state in the reference that the source material is in the public domain so that others won't delete your contributon as a copyvio or a putative copyvio. Likewise, if you add a whoe bunch of polished text to an article and don't cite your source, that has all the hallmarks of a text dump and is likely to be reverted as a likely copyvio.

All this means that with respect to the website you reference in your question, so long as you aren't copying the words used on the website, the copyright status of that page is irrelevant; you can use the website as a source of information and then cite. I suggest using <ref></ref> tags with {{cite web}} in between to format the reference (if you donlt know what I mean, please see {{Refref}}). However, pleae also be aware that what we want in references is reliability. This page is dedicated to explaining what consitute reliable sources. I'm not sure that site is very reliable as a source. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 17:48, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Probably a majority of Wikipedia's reliable sources are under copyright. As to whether this is a problem, it depends on what you mean by "can be used." You can cite a copyrighted source, but you cannot copy and paste from it at length. See: WP:V, WP:RS, WP:CITE, WP:FOOT, WP:CITET, and WP:COPYVIO. If you can be more specific about what you want to do with this reference, we can give a more specific answer. --Teratornis (talk) 17:53, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

You can cite a reference with {{Cite web}} template code like this:

<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.creditflux.com/glossary/funded+credit+default+swap.htm
|title=Funded credit default swap
|publisher=www.creditflux.com
|accessdate=2008-06-29
|last=
|first=
}}
</ref>

which I generated with the WPCITE plugin for Firefox. See: WP:EIW#Citetools. --Teratornis (talk) 17:56, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Firstly, thanks for those replies. Now let me explain what I'm trying to do here. I removed some unsourced information from Credit derivative that at best, is confusing but is also not entirely true. Now I want to include the proper information which is

"A funded credit derivative involves the protection seller (i.e. the party that assumes the credit risk) making an initial payment that would be used to cover any potential credit events."

I don't like to add something without a source and I found the page I linked to above which is not available for free use. May I go ahead? This will really help me because all of the text books I use when editing are also copyright protected.

I should add that I'm fully aware of the reliability policy but I unfortunately don't have anything better at the moment. You will agree that the wrong information had to go, right? Zain Ebrahim (talk) 18:14, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

I went ahead and added the ref and the information. Please have a look at the last two sentences of the first paragraph under Credit derivative#Types and check if you think it's a copyright violation. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 20:01, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

It seems from your comments that you still think a copyrighted work somehow makes it less usable as a reliable source. That isn't the case at all. We cannot copy and paste extended chunks of copyrighted material, but we can certainly cite it. Many if not most citations on Wikipedia are probably of copyrighted works. The only issue with the source you cited might be whether it qualifies as reliable, not whether it is under copyright. However, I'd just go ahead and use the source, and if someone else thinks it is unreliable, they can challenge it. Unfortunately I lack expertise in the domain of finance to comment on the correctness of either the before or after; I suspect the odds are low than any other Help desk volunteers having the necessary expertise would be reading just now. If you want opinions on the factual content, you might ask on the Reference desk - someone over there might know about finance. However, on Wikipedia, a sourced claim carries more weight than an unsourced claim. You mention textbooks - these can be acceptable as reliable sources, and you can cite them with the {{Cite book}} template. If you tell us the title(s) of some of these textbooks, we (or you) can possibly look them up with {{Google scholar cite}}, from which it is easy to generate {{Cite book}} templates with fields pre-filled. You can cite multiple sources for a single claim; having more sources makes a claim more reliable, and therefore less vulnerable to challenge by other editors. So by all means, cite whatever textbooks you find that support the claim. --Teratornis (talk) 02:38, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia has lots of articles that are about books. If you have a textbook which is notable, it might have an article on Wikipedia, and if so, the book would almost certainly qualify as a reliable source. That doesn't mean everything in the book is necessarily true, but it would satisfy Wikipedia's requirement as a source for any factual claims that book supports. --Teratornis (talk) 02:41, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

citation bullets in References section

I have been unable to figure out how to create an anchor to the citations section and format it so that so the asterisk will be interpreted as a bullet, i.e., the reference will appear with a little square in front of it rather than an asterisk, as it does in your help section and tutorials.

I have cut and pasted suggested, properly formatted references from your tutorial into the sandbox, so I am pretty sure I am not making a typing error.

Here is what I put in the sandbox: (You will need to look at the actual text I typed rather than how it is interpreted in order to see what I am talking about.)

another article Ritter2002

I may be misunderstanding you but are you looking for something like this:

1. another article?

Zain Ebrahim (talk) 20:34, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Actually, my question continues onto the section immediately below, and has since been answered. Thanks. Neuroscientist1 (talk) 22:01, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

References

• Brown, R (2006). "Size of the Moon", Scientific American, 51(78).

* this is another citation

* Ritter, R. (2002). The Oxford Style Manual. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860564-1

• Ritter, R. (2002). The Oxford Style Manual. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860564-1

The Brown reference was cut and pasted from your tutorial, as was the Ritter "cite id=" reference (including the "cite id=Ritter2002" and "/cite" parts.

I then cut and pasted the Ritter reference, without the "cite id=" formatting, as a separate reference.

When Ritter (or anything else I type) is listed without "<cite id=" and I select "show preview" it displays a little square as a bullet.

When the exact same text is used with "<cite id=", the asterisk is not interpreted as a bullet, and appears as an asterisk. In your tutorial, it shows the asterisk being interpreted as a bullet, even when used with "<cite id=".

Am I missing something?

How can I make this work? Or when we use "cite id=" is is supposed to appear with an asterisk rather than a bullet?

Neuroscientist1 (talk) 20:30, 29 June 2008 (UTC)Neuroscientist1

You are doing the following:

<cite id=Ritter2002>* Ritter, R. (2002). ''The Oxford Style Manual''. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860564-1</cite>

But you should be typing the asterick before the reference, like so:

*<cite id=Ritter2002>Ritter, R. (2002). ''The Oxford Style Manual''. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860564-1</cite>

This renders it properly as:

• Ritter, R. (2002). The Oxford Style Manual. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860564-1

Ta-da! Also, it is unnecessary to type your name after ~~~~. –thedemonhog talk • edits 20:41, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Thank you very much. I appreciate the guidance. Neuroscientist1 (talk) 22:03, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

AfD mess

I entered a tag for a proposed deletion here, but the version of TW I'm using may well be out of date (or used incompetently). While I read up on the correct way to submit articles for deletion someone may want to check the mess I've made in case it seems like vandalism. The reason for prod noted on the talk page. --Raerth (talk) 21:22, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Now fixed, thanks anyway :) Raerth (talk) 21:41, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

I was just about to reply here. :) No probs. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 21:42, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

SPAM OR VIUS ON YOUR SYSTEM ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jon_janes ==

But no on can submit the name | jon janes | in the search box to find me ?

I myself and a few companys, find your Wikipedia seems to be full of spam messages that keep deleting accounts and pictures that are owned by the user that owns the copyright depite placing then under a free licence

WHATS GOING ON ?

please help us before our company decides your just to complicated to use

Jon janes

http://www.jonjaneslive.com/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jon janes (talk • contribs) 21:36, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

The search box only searches the main article space, and not the userspace. Your article is currently at your userpage, so it will be ignored by any searches using the search box. PeterSymonds (talk) 21:40, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Yes. You seem to be a bit confused as to the purpose of Wikipedia. You probably want MySpace or Facebook. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 21:46, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

See WP:BFAQ. --Teratornis (talk) 02:11, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

The user has been indefinitely blocked, has posted a malformed unblock request request on his talk, which I have now properly formatted. – ukexpat (talk) 13:25, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Clearing Search (wikipedia)

How do I clear out the search box on Wikipedia so that it does not pop up with all of my previous requests? It's getting clogged with erroneous search suggestions.

Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.26.55.189 (talk) 21:43, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

I don't think you can, to be honest. Are you using Mozilla Firefox? I think that happens automatically, but I could be wrong. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 21:45, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Firefox can't clear Wikipedia search functions for whatever reason. Maybe a feature Wiki could add.

Thanks!

The search box has two modes: in AJAX mode, Wikipedia autofills the search box as you type; in non-AJAX mode your browser remembers old entries. To change the mode, go to Special:Preferences, select Search and check or uncheck Disable AJAX suggestions. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 21:52, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

I don't have an account to log into. Is it possible to change it without logging in? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.26.55.189 (talk) 22:04, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Should have noticed that. No- preferences are just benefit of having an account. See Wikipedia:Why create an account?. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 22:08, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Topic-Relevance

Hi, Ive tried to post an article several times on Luis Fernando Correa-Bahamon, one of the most important figures of real estate in today´s world. He is the World-President of FIABCI (International Real Estate Federation). Wikipedia always puts me on a special limited-time basis which lets me edit my article since the "topic" is not relevant. Im not sure what to due since ive tried in a couple of ocasions. Please tell me what are the possible reasons im getting this, and what I should due in order for it to be published. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.216.63.67 (talk) 22:36, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

See Why was my article deleted?. Do you have an account? Only logged-in editors can create new articles. Did you try to edit an article in our sandbox page? The sandbox is for our many new users to practice their wikitext editing, and Wikipedia automatically clears out the sandbox at frequent intervals. If you don't want to create a new account, you can request an article, and maybe someone else will make it. I searched Special:Log for "Luis Fernando Correa-Bahamon", and it does not appear Wikipedia has ever had an article with that exact title. Neither does the Spanish Wikipedia have such an article: es:Luis Fernando Correa-Bahamon. --Teratornis (talk) 02:06, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

June 30

More vandalism

User:151.203.63.221 vandalized the article on Eric Stuart, which I later fixed. That user seriously should have been warned since the sight of the vandalism.Kitty53 (talk) 00:34, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

• You can always do it yourself. Ten Pound Hammer and his otters • ^{(Broken clamshells•Otter chirps)} 00:40, 30 June 2008 (UTC)
• All you need to do is add {{subst:uw-vandalism1}} ~~~~ to their user talk page to warn them. --Mizu onna sango15/^Discuss 00:57, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

You can find a list of template warning messages at WP:MLT. Just remember to use the lowest warning message each time, unless they've been warned recently, in which they can be warned the next level up. If they vandalise after a level 4 warning, they can be reported at WP:AIV. StephenBuxton (talk) 16:12, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

I've just looked at the user contributions of User:151.203.63.221 (in case of other vandalism), and they've only made one edit, which you can see here. This edit is actually a reversion of a previous bit of vandalism from User:Aishasan. The anon IP user reverted one bit of vandalism, and you did the other, Kitty53. I've just checked the vandal's contributions, and it looks like these were only bits of vandalism that they did. As the vandalism is more than 2 weeks old, I haven't bothered with giving them a warning. StephenBuxton (talk) 16:20, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Image linking to page

How do I put an image like this:

[[Image:Crystal Clear action exit.svg]]

but when I press it, it directs me to a page like

[[WP:Example]]. 

DA PIE EATER REVIEW ME 01:23, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

With an image map. Someguy1221 (talk) 01:45, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

direct searches for areas in which wikipedia is deficient

Is there a wanted list for articles in which wikipedia is lacking sufficient information? Is it possible to search directly for deficiencies in specific or general fields?

Also I have noticed that it is now possible for me to reach Wikipedia from China without the aid of a proxy. Previously I have forwarded information to a user in the states via E-mail. Will I now be able to publish articles directly? Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 222.64.131.115 (talk) 02:23, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Most wanted articles lists articles that are highly desired, specifically, articles that do not exist but that have many other articles that link to them. I'm not sure about the China issue, though. -- Natalya 02:26, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

If you mean articles which do exist but have deficiences, we have lots of messagebox templates that people place in such articles, and categories to keep track of them. For example, see: WP:STUB, WP:CLEANUP, Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup, and Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles, for starters. What "specific or general fields" do you have in mind? There are many WikiProjects which have to-do lists, and lists of articles in their subject areas that need work. In a sense, every article which is not a featured article is deficient in one or more ways, so one could say that more than 99% of articles on Wikipedia need improving. See WP:FAC. --Teratornis (talk) 05:50, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

As for the China question, I have no idea either, but see the links under WP:EIW#Access; you might find information there. If you need more specific information, let us know, and we can search for a place you can ask. Or you can check the history of pages such as Blocking of Wikipedia in mainland China. Maybe the users who edited that article know something. It appears that you can edit on this Help desk, which means you can probably edit on the whole English Wikipedia. I think the blocking by the Chinese government was or is on the whole site, not just on certain parts. If you want to create new articles, you will have to create an account. Also, please read Help:Talk page and sign your posts on the Help desk. --Teratornis (talk) 05:58, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Instillation of Active directory

Hi

Please sugget us the instiallition of active directory

thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.112.80.138 (talk) 06:03, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

I suggest you install Active Directory --TheDJ (talk • contribs) 09:11, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Pasting stuff on talk pages: Wiki Policy on copy pasting edit material on its talk page

Wikipedia:Talk page Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines deals with editing guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should follow, though it should be treated with common sense and the occasional exception. How to use article talk pages[3] - # Discuss edits: The talk page is particularly useful to talk about edits. If one of your edits has been reverted, and you change it back again, it is good practice to leave an explanation on the talk page and a note in the edit summary that you have done so. The talk page is also the place to ask about another editor's changes. If someone queries one of your edits, make sure you reply with a full, helpful rationale. # Make proposals: New proposals for the article can be put forward for discussion by other editors if you wish. Proposals might include changes to specific details, page moves, merges or making a section of a long article into a separate article. Using talk pages[4] Placing material from the article on a talk page[5]

I found it very useful (against vandalism and reverting or wrong deleting of my edits in the articles by any other editor or anonymous user) by copy pasting my entire edit or contribution to an article, since, upon cursory perusal of the above cited rules of Wiki on article's talk pages, I never found any rule which forbids this style of editing.

I also received 2 messages from an administrator and from an editor on this, and I forthwith aired my predicament in the light of Wiki policies and the cited rules.

May I please quote my reply to the editor here: Thanks for visiting my page. Hereunder, I hereby submit the GOOD reasons why, my style of copy pasting my edits (with some comments, proposals and edit discussion on the Article's talk page) is in full conformity, and never violates the rules hereunder cited plus policies of Wikipedia. Take this article I created: Zac Sunderland -This article is orphaned as few or no other articles link to it.# Please help introduce links in articles on related topics. (June 2008)(cur) (last) ; Now, despite my efforts to put in links to this orphan or start class new article, these IP edits, DELETED my links: 17:38, 26 June 2008 69.37.197.43 (Talk) (5,617 bytes) (undo) # (cur) (last) 16:03, 25 June 2008 69.37.197.43 (Talk) (5,693 bytes) (undo); since I had not placed the links on the talk page, I wasted full one hour to research on the deleted links, just to put again the sources. Now, administrator TheCoffee sent me the message above: Pasting stuff on talk page[6] and I forthwith explained my predicament: I researched and found this template or user box: User:Chetblong/Userboxes/edits So, I meditated and I found 2 remedies: a) to preserve my edits daily in email, which is burdensome, and negative for Wikipedia, since, b) putting in the talk page of the article the entire edit, would, in time, help the editor and readers, who research, to get the facts needed, amid dying of links, in time. I state that as principle, all editors cannot watch on his or her watch list all his or her edits, leaving at the mercy of vandals and poor editors, the destiny of edits. So, I devised this way as, also a means to ask opinion from other editors if my edit is good or not. Please message me if my principle or style of editing in talk page would make dirty the pages. But I notice that in most of my edits, the talk page is empty or bare, since I often edit in stubs. So, I differentiate. Thanks. ::IN SUM, or tersely: upon cursory perusal of Wiki rules, there is no prohibition upon copy pasting my / or any other edit, when there is reasonable ground of fear that the edit might be reverted or vandalized. For sure, it is good editing style backed by the userbox template the the hereunder rules, to copy paste it. FINALLY, I find it so difficult to INSTEAD put in my email back up, all my daily edits, instead of putting them in the talk pages. At any rate, I decided to submit your good points, the advise of administrator TheCoffee and my predicament, to the proper Wikipedia:Help desk. PREMISES CONSIDERED, may I be enlightened on this. Hoping for your kind attention and reply. Thanks.--Florentino floro (talk) 06:50, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

This is why I suggest you create your own sandbox. At least in your sandbox, if necessary, you can write articles or make revisions to articles before incorporating them into the main article. If you need to ask for suggestions, you can refer to others to take a look at your sandbox and "validate" your articles. --Sky Harbor ^(talk) 12:43, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

I can understand the personal reasoning behind your copypaste policy to an extent, but I have to agree with others who have discussed it with you: it's really not a helpful way to edit. It clogs up the talk page - which is intended to be a place where improvements to the article are discussed - with seemingly random chunks of article, which serve no purpose other than as a personal backup or clipboard for your own use. Can you imagine what would be the effect if many others began to do the same thing, particularly on pages which may see tens of edits a day? Talk page arguments would become messy, lengthy and almost impossible to follow.

Every contribution you make is preserved in the page history. That is an archive for every user, including you. If you want to reinsert material that has been changed or removed, all you need to do is open up the right version in the history, and cut and paste from that. If you want to cite your older contributions on the talk page from time to time as part of a discussion, there is nothing stopping you - that is covered by the talk page guidelines. But using talk pages as a personal clipboard really is not in the spirit of Wikipedia editing. --Karenjc 15:33, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

To link to an old revision of a page, click on the "history" tab and search through to find the old version (which will presumably have your username beside it, if you were the last person to edit that version). Clicking on the date-and-time on that row will open up the old version; you can then link to that URL and hence point people at the old version (example: [7]).

Oh, and that userbox you found refers to the practice of leaving warning templates on the user_talk pages of editors who make bad edits; it doesn't seem to relate to your situation. Linking to old versions like shown above is almost always a better way. --_{tiny plastic} Grey Knight ⊖ 16:48, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Someone else to write my article

Hi,

How can I have someone else to write an article about a subject? Perhaps a regular contributor to Wikipedia, or a Wikipedia editor? Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by PuffinIsland (talk • contribs) 09:08, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Please see WP:Articles for creation and WP:Requested articles. Cheers, PeterSymonds (talk) 09:19, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

List of Copyeditors

Resolved

 – resolved by requester

Hello. I was looking for different lists of copyeditors besides WP:LOCE. I'm listed in one of them but I forgot where it is. :P Thanks, RyRy (talk) 10:01, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

A search found you in Wikipedia:Typo/Members. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:59, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

No, it's not that, but nice try though. I think it was something like a list that shows a list of users who are willing to copyedit possible FAs. Users also state what they are most experienced at. I'm not entirely sure though. Can you/someone find something like that? -- RyRy (talk) 11:18, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Nevermind. it was actually Wikipedia:Peer_review/volunteers#General_copyediting. Thanks anyways. I'll mark this as resolved. -- RyRy (talk) 13:34, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Trouble uploading images

I am still having trouble uploading images because I keep getting a message "The file is corrupt or has an incorrect extension. Please check the file and upload again.". I don't know how to upload files from other sites, the one that I have my maps in being FileDen. Socal gal at heart (talk) 10:05, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Looking at your contributions I see that you successfully uploaded multiple images in the past of maps, all released into the public domain. Before even addressing your question I would like to ask you to consider uploading future similar images to the Wikimedia Commons rather than here because they are free content. We allow such uploads here because we don't want to turn away any user who is willing to give us free images and it's difficult to explain in pro forma instructions "if your image is of a certain type, upload at a different site..." But all free content belongs at the Commons and all of your images will eventually be moved to the Commons in any event; by uploading them there in the firsdt instance, you will cut out the secondary process of another editor having the take the time to import them there and delete them from here.

That having been said, since from your question it appears the problem images are also these types of maps/a map, are you doing anything different with recent images that you didn't with past which you were successful with? And is it multiple images that you're getting this error message about or just one? If you're just stuck on one image, recreate it, replace it on your computer or wherever you're hosting it and then try uploading again. Files get corrupted for all kinds of reasons—it could be a cosmic ray or any number of reasons which it's impossible to tell from your question. If it's many images, try to think of where in the process you've strayed from what you did in the past. You could then report back here, or just reform yourelf back to the method that previously worked. You could also try saving the file in various other formats and then uploading. For example, you could save the image is a Jpeg rather than in PNG format (using paint, for example, select File --> Save As, and there should be a drop down menu under the file name that will enable you to save the image in particular formats). I'm sort of flailing because your question doesn't contain any specifics really to work from. In any event I hope this helps.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 10:43, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

I did not do anything different with the trouble images than I did with the others. And I am having the same exact difficulty on Wikimedia commons. Socal gal at heart (talk) 10:45, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

I had this trouble before. Make sure you add the file extension (eg .jpg) to both the name of the file on your computer, and the name you wan to upload to (eg. Kite.jpg). Is this the issue? - tholly ^--Turnip-- 16:48, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Using a bot to correct spellings

If I find that a word has been misspelt often in WP, can I set a bot to correct all occurrences? For example, after finding "consession" for "concession" I searched for the term and found it in many articles, always as an error as far as I could see. Apart from werdnabot to archive my talk page I have never used a bot before. Itsmejudith (talk) 10:36, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

You could take a look at the bots listed at Wikipedia:Bots/Status and get in touch with one of the operators who runs a bot that fixes typos, perhaps. If there's nothing that looks useful there, you could make a request at Wikipedia:Bot requests. -- Natalya 11:30, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

You could apply for AWB which you can then set to run lots of similar edits like that, you just have to 'approve' each one when it shows you the changes. - tholly ^--Turnip-- 17:27, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Yes, spelling fixes generally require manual review: sometimes, "teh" really is the intended spelling. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 21:22, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Userpage request

Hi! I would like to request that my original userpage name, Anacrossan be reinstated. I am requesting that, lolopapalangi be erased, please. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Anacrossan (talk • contribs) 11:25, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Well, I am not an administrator here on the English Wikipedia, so I cannot help with that. However, if it has been made before, it can be undeleted by an admin. Likewise, your old userpage can be deleted. (Admins, please help!) --Sky Harbor ^(talk) 12:29, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

It looks like Kingturtle moved "Anacrossan" to "Lolopapalangi" on 27 June.[8] The original page was not deleted, just redirected to your new name. Simply redirect Lolopapalangi to Anacrossan. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 14:46, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Incorrect logo for SportEngland.org

I represent sportengland.org and our article [9] has an out of date logo.

I have registered an account (Username = SportEngland) but I am unable to upload a new version of the logo because my account is not confirmed. I have read that I need to make 10 edits to become confirmed, however I do not have any other changes to make.

Please could you advise as to what I should do. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.150.108.132 (talk) 12:58, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Ten edits shouldn't be that hard to do. It doesn't have to be factual changes; it can even be cleaning up the article on Sport England (if needed). Any edit counts as an edit. However, if you really cannot upload the logo yourself, you can request a user to do that for you. --Sky Harbor ^(talk) 13:14, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

The article's talk page would be an appropriate place to make such a request. Olaf Davis | Talk 16:26, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Articles in multiple categories

Don't know whether this should go at WP:VPT, but I'm looking for a way to find articles (or images) that are in multiple categories. So, for example, all the pages that are in Category:Images which should be in PNG format and Category:Images with watermarks - there might not be any there, but you see what I mean. This would be nice for clearing some backlogs, getting the most problem articles/files done first. Toolserver tool needed for this? As far as I know, there's no way to do it using the site. Cheers, Alex Muller 13:02, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

You can do it from the site search using "incategory:". See here for details. --_{tiny plastic} Grey Knight ⊖ 13:32, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

You may be looking for CatScan. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 14:42, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Avient Aviation Incomplete and Jouranslistic Content

Content has been published on the page relating to Avient Aviation with the title "Involvement in the Second Congo War" then goes on to refer to a range of articles from the UN. The conclusion of which is not inclued and we beleive deliberately missed out to make Avient look bad". Likewise the item headed "May 2008 Chinese Arms Shipment to Zimbabwe" contains reference to a newspaper article that contained only supposition which has since been retracted. Attempts to remove this jouranlistic content keep being reverted by people who should know better. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.140.240.195 (talk) 13:25, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Comment: User:212.140.240.195 appears to be User:AvientLtd, who clearly has a COI. – ukexpat (talk) 15:57, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

WikiProjects

How do I join a Wikiproject? --Sultan Pepper (talk) 14:23, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

All you need to do is find the participants list (usually listed on the same page) and add your signature! Then you're all ready to go. :-) Which are you interested in joining? --Mizu onna sango15/^Discuss 14:27, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Hi Sultan Pepper. If you're looking to browse for a project that interests you, the main directory of WikiProjects is found at Wikipedia:List_of_WikiProjects. If you already know which project(s) you wish to join, then Mizu is correct: visit the project's main page and you should find a link to the list of participants, and instructions on how to add yourself to it. WikiProjects tend to have a regular newsletter giving project updates, which is automatically delivered to those on the list, and depending on the project you may find "to do" lists and other information showing you how you can get involved, all accessed via the main project page. I'll leave some other useful links on your userpage to help you find your way around. Happy editing! --Karenjc 14:36, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

You may also want to add a userbox or Wikipedia ad on your Userpage so that when other people see your userpage, they automatically know that you are a part of a certain WikiProject. I guess it's your choice, but I put Userboxen be cause I like them. Chimchar monferno (talk) 17:46, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

image file destination

I am having trouble getting an image file-that I have uploaded successfully--to the proper destination. It is a logo, and I can't figure out how to make it appear on the page of the article about the organization. It keeps appearing only on it's own page, called Image:[file name].png

Help ! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Asunto451 (talk • contribs) 17:41, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Use a syntax like:

Example image caption

[[Image:Example.png|thumb|right|Example image caption]]

For more, see Wikipedia:Images. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 18:15, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

The image has been added. See this diff. –thedemonhog talk • edits 18:17, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Referencing files (such as readmes)

Hi, working on adding references for the FYM article. A fair bit of the info contained there can be found in the release notes and installation readmes - which are only available if you download the game. How would I go about (or even should I be) referencing these in the article?

It would be easy, but... I'm guessing that trying to reference by saying "the game's author told me so" wouldn't work on Wikipedia ;-)

Also, if I have a number of things that can be referenced - say the sentence reads "The game includes Item A (sometext), Item B (sometext) and Item C (sometext)" - and all come from the same source, would the correct thing be to put a single reference at the end of the sentence, rather than having reference links everywhere?

Regards, Danny252 (talk) 18:34, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Go figure— we actually have {{Cite video game}}. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 20:09, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Wow, someone has some free time, eh? Thanks Danny252 (talk) 22:22, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Hörspiel interwiki links

The English Wikipedia now has separate articles for radio drama in general and German Hörspiel in particular. The only interwiki link of Hörspiel goes to de:Hörspiel, whose interwiki links in turn go to radio drama, and other language versions of it, such as fi:kuunnelma, which are about radio drama in general. It seems that the English Wikipedia is the only one to distinguish between radio drama in general and Hörspiel. Not even the German Wikipedia does this: in fact, the interwiki link back to the English Wikipedia from de:Hörspiel goes to radio drama in general. Why should the English Wikipedia keep an explicit article about the German radio drama when no other Wikipedia does it? Surely it could be merged into the main article? Neither article is particularly long either. JIP | Talk 18:48, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Well, if there is a difference, there is a difference. The English Wikipedia is the biggest and most popular Wikipedia/Wikimedia project. It is milestones ahead of it's closest rival, the German Wikipedia. Therefore, information that you wouldn't find elsewhere will be here, and if it's noteworthy for inclusion, it will be kept here. Hope this helps. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 18:51, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

In that case, should the interwiki links at least be fixed? Going to the German Wikipedia from the English Wikipedia, and coming back only to end up at a different article seems weird. The interwiki link at de:Hörspiel could be changed to Hörspiel instead of radio drama. JIP | Talk 19:16, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

You could certainly make a case for merging Hörspiel into radio drama. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 19:17, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

I already did, it was not carried out, because the concepts are too separate. JIP | Talk 19:26, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Looks like an obvious merge candidate to me (and the same goes for Radio drama in Japan too, though that one at least has a bit more substance). Did anyone actually provide any reasons for not doing the merge? I'd be tempted to slap {{unreferenced}} and {{mergeto|Radio drama}} onto Hörspiel and {{globalize}} onto Radio drama, but it might be more productive to just boldly cut-and-paste the content over. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 21:19, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Why does the heading of my article say it needs citations and links?

I submitted a detail packed article with citations to published works and many links to supporting information. However, the heading says it does not have citations and links and asks volunteers to clean it up. I will clean it up myself, once I know how. How do I change my article so that my citations and links are recognized? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Springfieldohio (talk • contribs) 19:21, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 19:26, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Well, it looks like you're on the right track. You can always remove the tags from the top of the article whenever you like, but unless the issue is fixed, another editor may put them back. For references, add <ref> before an external link and </ref> just after . This will turn the external links into references. For wikification, just add double brackets ([[ and ]]) around words in the article. This will link to other Wikipedia articles. I hope this helps! TN‑X-Man 19:28, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

And don't forget it's not "your" article. – ukexpat (talk) 19:59, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Image under wrong copyright?

I suspect that Image:Eurocopa Casillas.jpg might not be under Creative Commons, as it says. Firstly because of the description both on the Image page and Flickr. AFP PHOTO / OLIVER LANG -- MOBILE SERVICES OUT -- (Photo credit should read OLIVER LANG/AFP/Getty Images). What to do, what to do? — chandler — 21:25, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

I have tagged it as a copyright violation, and it will likely be gone pretty quick now. Thank you for reporting. --TheDJ (talk • contribs) 21:36, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, will remeber {{copyvio}} for the next time — chandler — 21:41, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

how to use?

I an 67 years old with little schooling and find using your site confusing to say the least, I looked up your version on the SOUL and wish to submit the Bibles view as they are not alike. When I tried to enter my comment it said I did it wrong, why not have a box that simply says “submit your comment” —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.165.154.180 (talk) 21:54, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Just a note: Wikipedia is not a place to submit comments: it's an encyclopedia. If you want to submit comments on a page, go up to the bar with the tabs, click the one that says "talk", then click the "new section" button, give a title for your comment and write your comment/concern (remembering to "sign" with 4 tildes (~~~~), then hit "save". A new section will be made on the talk page with your comment. If you want to change the page, click the "edit" tab, change the page, and click "save". But keep in mind that we have a bunch of policies like verifiability, using reliable sources only, and not putting what you personally think on articles. Hope this helps. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 22:00, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

By the way, what you actually did wrong was delete nearly the entire article when you added your content. Remember, any text you delete from the edit window will also disappear from the article! Someguy1221 (talk) 22:20, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

New article / Copyright issue

I want to create a new article based on the content of my own website. The article has already been deleted once. How can I do to create an new article based on my own website?

Thanks

Arnaud —Preceding unsigned comment added by FrenchArnaud (talk • contribs) 22:08, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

First, in case you don't know already, all content on Wikipedia is published under the GFDL, a free license. Any article you place on Wikipedia is automatically placed under the GFDL, and everyone in the world is free to modify it and copy it freely. What we actually need is proof that you are the person who owns the copyrights at the website. The easiest way to do this is to place a notice at the bottom of your website that you release the content of the site, or at least the page with the biography, under the GFDL or another free license. Alternatively, you can send an email to OTRS notifying them of your intentions and somehow proving your identity. The first option is far simpler...before you do either, however, I notice that biography page doesn't cite any sources. If you place the article on Wikipedia again, please cite your sources for the information, and consider reading Wikipedia:Your first article. Someguy1221 (talk) 22:17, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

How to make a reference

I am trying to make a reference in my paper so that a link will come up to go to the page in the article and not just in the references at the bottom. I am creating the Bicycle Rodeo page and cannot figure out how to make a reference. If you could help me out with this I would appreciate it. Also I tried making the reference and a number one came up where it should but I clinking on it and nothing came up?

Thanks again Cgman919 (talk) 22:21, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Hi there. External links should go in a separate "External links" section, rather than in the body of the text. As far as references go, you're on the right track if the numbers come up, but you need to create a "References" section towards the end of the article and then put the text {{reflist}} in it. This will make your numbered references display in full in the reference section. See Wikipedia:Citing sources for a full rundown on how to do it. --Karenjc 22:30, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

I've added your reflist tag - have a look now and see how it works --Karenjc 22:34, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

I've turned the titles of your sources into links to the sources. By looking in the edit view, you'll be able to see how I did this. Basically, the format is:

   [WEB-ADDRESS TITLE-OF-LINK]

There is also a link option in the citation templates that does the same thing, if you decide to use those. Someguy1221 (talk) 22:43, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Wikified?

I got a message on my article or section Bicycle Rodeo that said this page needs to be Wikified. What does this mean, and am I supposed to do something about it?

Thanks Cgman919 (talk) 22:25, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Basically it means that you need to edit the page to conform with Wikipedia's style guidelines. This could mean using appropriate wikitext, or other things detailed in the tutorial. See also WP:Wikify for more info. Thanks, PeterSymonds (talk) 22:36, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

wikipedia convert function

Resolved

 – resolved by requester

The page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_F20C_engine has an error in it. I would fix it myself but the error lies deeper, somewhere in the "convert" function that allows unit conversion. I have no idea where to go to edit this bit of code. The problem likes in the wikipedia code that says: convert 250 PS bhp lk=on abbr=on (I have omitted the formatting). The resulting page shows both 250 PS and 250 HP. Strangely the next conversion, from 242 PS to 239 HP is correct. As there is a linear relationship between PS and HP the 250 hp should be more like 245 PS. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.253.49.6 (talk) 22:38, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

The reasons that 250 converts to 250 is the conversion function assumes you want the same number of significant figures in the answer as in the question if you do not specify the accuracy you want. Therefore 250 converts to 2 significant figures (250) but 242 converts to 3 significant figures (239). If you specify {{convert|250.001|PS|bhp|lk=on|abbr=on}} you will get the answer to six significant figures like so; 250.001 PS (246.581 bhp). I have added sigfig=3 to all the conversions in the article that are currently only converting to two figures. You might want to check I got them all - and also that there are not any you really wanted to be 2 figures (you want this if the input number was only a round figure to begin with). SpinningSpark 23:06, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Nice work, good fix. I have no idea what accuracy the original numbers had, 3 significant figures should be fine.

uploadding a graphic of a chemical structure

I wish to upload an image (graphic) of a chemical structure. The image is a simple chemical structure that has been published in a recognized research journal (J. Med. Chem.).

1. i'm assuming the image is therefore "in the public domain" but cannot decipher from wiki's help pages how to categorize this when i'm building my page, and

2. when i try to upload the image, i'm not "authorized". what's the best way to get myself authorized / to upload the image?

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thresholdpharm (talk • contribs) 22:52, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

You are not authorised to upload images because your account is new. You must wait four days then you will be autoconfirmed (always provided you refrain from commiting any unforgivable sins in that short time). The Journal of Medicinal Chemistry asserts copyright on all their material [10] as do most journals and you cannot use it directly on Wikipedia. You can however cite their material or reword it. In the case of an image, you can redraw it in your favourite chemical drawing package and upload it to Wikipedia as your own work under an appropriate free licence. SpinningSpark 23:28, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

User Page

I've stumbled upon a user that seems to be using his user page for a blog of some sort (or something else, I can't quite figure it out), but I'm undecided on if it's a violation of the user page guidlines. See this. MrMarkTaylor ^{What's that?/What I Do/Feed My Box} 23:26, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Probably is. I've MfD'd the page, we'll see what happens. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 23:30, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

If the user was making useful contributions I would not worry about it too much. But in this case he seems to have come here just to get some free web-hosting for his home-brew club. However, someone else has already nominated his page for deletion here so I suggest you move the discussion there. SpinningSpark 23:35, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Ralph Sall

content redacted due to potential copyright violation

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Disco310 (talk • contribs) 23:58, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

If you want to create an article on Ralph Sall, that is fine. What you cannot do is copy content from a record company's MySpace page.[11] See Wikipedia:Your first article, Wikipedia:Manual of Style (biographies) and Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 00:15, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Blacklist

Why are "Seth Patinkin", "Jan Szatkowski", and "Brian Peppers" in the local title blacklist? 208.76.245.162 (talk) 03:10, 1 July 2008 (UTC)