Wikipedia:Help desk

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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

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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

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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?)

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Ask a question

September 26

editing

how do I put one of those little red question marks next to something that I think is probably wrong (almost certainly wrong). I see them all the time but I cant find anything on how to make one. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Em3ryguy (talk • contribs) 00:46, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

The minimum you do is put {{fact}} next to something that you aren't sure is factual. -- kainaw™ 00:55, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

See more at Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles. If you see something in an article and wonder how it was done then click edit to see the source. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:26, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

move tab not activated

I have had a Wikipedia account for several months and I still don't have the move tab displayed. I have created a page named "Global sprint challenge" and need to change the name to "Global Sprint Challenge", can anyone please help me to make the change. Willow15 (talk) 02:02, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Ironically enough, it looks like this post gave you the 10th edit needed to become autoconfirmed, and have already moved the page. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 04:13, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Number of English Articles Statistics problem?

Hi. I have been keeping track of the number of English articles every day, several times a day, for the past six months, or for at least until it reached the 2 million mark. I've been keeping track of those numbers. I store them daily. However, I notice that since yesterday midnight, the last time I checked the number of English articles, the number hasn't changed. This is very unusual, as there are approximately more than 1000 articles per day. This is my several last data:

  Year=2008,Month=9,Date=25,Hour=00,Minute=06,Articles=2,563,266
  Year=2008,Month=9,Date=25,Hour=07,Minute=26,Articles=2,563,483
  Year=2008,Month=9,Date=25,Hour=23,Minute=35,Articles=2,563,491
  Year=2008,Month=9,Date=26,Hour=06,Minute=51,Articles=2,563,493
  Year=2008,Month=9,Date=26,Hour=09,Minute=22,Articles=2,563,495
  Year=2008,Month=9,Date=26,Hour=14,Minute=08,Articles=2,563,493

So you can see that it basically has stopped changing.

I thought I should tell someone, as I am pretty sure that there are actually being English articles created, they are just not being updated on the statistics page. (by the way, the times I noted are given in New Zealand time)

p.s. If anybody would like to look at my data, I could show them it...It's very interesting to look at.

p.p.s. I am also aware that the Statistics page, has recently (in the last couple of days) been completely re-formatted. Maybe this has something to do with that.

HowiAuckland (talk) 02:13, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Due to some technical issues, Special:Statistics has been frozen for the time being - there's a thread on WP:VPT about it. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 04:12, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks Confusing Manifestation! Feel free to check out my home page if you want to see the data. I just posted it there. HowiAuckland (talk) 05:21, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Plz help

Hey, i cant merge my account, plz help, user Acid burn already exist in english wiki but dont have any edits. My account is this [1] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.129.137.91 (talk) 04:16, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

You'll have to usurp the account. Someguy1221 (talk) 04:27, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

disappearance of talkpage

I've been working today on INTO University Partnerships, which I haven't looked at for months. I can't swear to it, but I pretty firmly remember there being a talkpage. Now there isn't. Am I hallucinating? If not, when did it disappear and why? If it was a deliberate action, who vanished it? BusinessAsUnusual (talk) 10:22, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

There is no sign Talk:INTO University Partnerships has existed. The article has not been moved so there is no old talk page at another location. The only article talk page you have edited is Talk:Astroturfing. The article has been briefly discussed at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Companies#INTO University Partnerships. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:33, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

#expr non-raw display

I have used the code {{#expr: {{NUMBEROFPAGES:R}} - {{NUMBEROFARTICLES:R}}}} on my userpage (#expr doesn't work with non-raw figures), but it always displays a raw figure. Is there any way to display it with commas? Densock|Dendodge^{in public} 11:46, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

{{formatnum:{{#expr: {{NUMBEROFPAGES:R}} - {{NUMBEROFARTICLES:R}}}}}}.--Patrick (talk) 12:48, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Treasure hunt in PSG College of Technology

What is the treasure in the treasure hunt of KRITHI 2008 ????

CONGRATS!!!!You found the treasure. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.163.146.11 (talk) 12:15, 26 September 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 that subject. 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. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the left hand side of your screen. If that is not fruitful, we have a reference desk, divided into various subjects areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:07, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Captain Mack

Dear Wikipedia,

I would like to create an article on the British childrens television program 'Captain Mack'. However I am one of the actors on the show, does this constitute personal advertising in any way? I have permission to create a wiki page from the producers, cast, crew and would have links to them if they have wiki pages already (The actress Julia Mallam for example has a wiki page already which could link to the Captain Mack page). If I can't create the page can I submit a request for a page to be created?

Regards --Schroderdragon (talk) 12:19, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for asking. You have a Wikipedia:Conflict of interest. See Wikipedia:FAQ/Business. You could make a suggested article at a user subpage like User:Schroderdragon/Captain Mack and then post the link for review, for example to Wikipedia talk:WikiProject British TV shows. It appears to have low activity so you could also try Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Television. Wikipedia:WikiProject Television has some advice on writing articles. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:42, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

And please read WP:YFA. – ukexpat (talk) 13:43, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Section edit button on the right?

I don't know whether this is because of a Wikipedia change or something I did in my preferences, but I'm seeing the [edit] link on the left side of section headings instead of the right, where I want it to be. How do I change this? Do I need to add something to my monobook.js, or is there a preference I missed? $\sim$ Lenoxus " * " 13:56, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Rabbi Benjamin Kelsen

I recently wrote my first article and posted it. it was a bio of my teacher and rabbi. however, based on comments from some editors it was deleted. i do not understand why it was deleted and would like to learn how to fix the article. can someone help me?

Ezra Sofer —Preceding unsigned comment added by Teaneckobserver (talk • contribs) 14:22, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

That article was deleted as a result of this Afd discussion: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Benjamin Kelsen. You could ask the deleting admin User:MBisanz to undelete it to a user subpage so you can work on improving it. You should also read WP:BIO, WP:RS and WP:V. – ukexpat (talk) 14:43, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

The Wikipedia Community would like to wish Avril Lavigne a happy birthday!

e.g. Summer Glau. Seems urgent; super advanced vandalism? –thedemonhog talk • edits 19:14, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Template vandalism, being discussed in a thread on WP:ANI (last or next to last thread at the moment). --barneca (talk) 19:23, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

There was vandalism to the {{Terminator}}. It has been reverted. This kind of vandalism bugs me the most. TN‑X-Man 19:26, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

There was similar vandalism this morning on {{Google}}, now cleaned up. – ukexpat (talk) 20:45, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

My userboxen

It seems my userboxen keep getting more and more disarranged. Can somebody take a look and offer some suggestion(s) as to how to get 'em to line up neat and proper? --Orange Mike | Talk 20:11, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

If you put {{userboxtop}} at the top of your userboxes and {{userboxbottom}} at the bottom of the list, it will line up all of the boxes on the right hand side. I looked at with an edit preview and it looked OK, but give it a shot and let me know. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 20:21, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

One long vertical stack is not what I was looking for, to put it gently. I wanted them to just line up in an array, as they are (I thought) intended to. Thanks, though, for trying. --Orange Mike | Talk 20:27, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps you have seen a user page with an arrangement of boxes you like. If so, you could look at the coding on that page to see how it was accomplished. Wanderer57 (talk) 20:31, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Alternatively (and I have no idea what the underlying reason is) if you jig them around, then they fall into place - User:Gb/Sandbox is the result of five minutes playing with the order (I've stripped out the rest of the page). Please feel free to delete the sandbox once you've looked / copied. _Gb^T/c 20:36, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Mine are set up in an array. It's been a while since I've lined them up, so the empty spaces are from userboxen that have been deleted. Dismas|^(talk) 20:39, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

The reason is the varying height of each box - the Mediawiki software logic can get a bit scrambled when trying to place templates of varying heights. It does its best, but it's rarely optimal in appearance. The problem with shifting them about to resolve the problem is that you may get it working for a particular screen size; but if you try resizing your window to emulate how it would appear for someone on a smaller or larger screen, you find that the placement still gets mucked up. If you want them in a block, the only reliable solution is to add code to intentionally structure them a certain way using a table or array ... although to be viewed correctly by people with all screen sizes and resolutions, you generally need to code to an assumed minimum optimal width (be it 800x600, 1024x768, or 1280x1024). Those with narrower than the minumum that you assume get stuck with a scroll bar on your page, while those with wider get extra white space on either side of the boxes. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 20:59, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

I just put them in a table for you. Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 20:48, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

They're no longer in the order of importance to me (my former arrangement); but they're aesthetically no longer so appalling. Thanx, gang! --Orange Mike | Talk 21:01, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Old Book Cite

Hi. I'm working on expanding the article David W. Patten, and I found a biography of him, written by Lorenzo Snow, at my library. It was written around 1900, and reprinted in 1969. Because of this, it doesn't have an ISBN number. It also doesn't seem to be in the Library of Congress catalog. So, is it acceptable to just put it in a "Citation" template at the bottom of the article with title, author name, printer info, and year? Also, what year do I put? 1900 or 1969? Thanks. Intothewoods29 (talk) 20:55, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

You know, personally, I hate citation templates. When there is no catalogue number, it's best to provide as much information as possible. The original publication date is important (for helping others know they're looking at the same book) and so is the reprinting date (heck, something might have been edited). The "date" parameter is supposed to be the publication date of the version you're actually reading. You'll notice in the documentation for {{Cite book}} there are also parameters for the original publication dates. Someguy1221 (talk) 21:30, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Sparrowhawk Media

I work for NBCU Global Networks and they were NOT formerly known as Sparrowhawk Media.

NBCU Global Networks acquired Sparrowhawk Media in 2007. Sparrowhawk Media was a British private equity backed media company. Since acquiring them we have been busy integrating them into NBCU GN.

THIS IS WHAT WIKIPEDIA SAYS - IT IS INCORRECT - AS PER THE ABOVE: NBC Universal Global Networks (formerly known as Sparrowhawk Media Group) is a British private equity-backed media company managing a collection of digital television channels. It was bought by NBC Universal and renamed NBC Universal Global Networks in late 2007. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.194.150.225 (talk) 21:16, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

This reference from NBC Universal (no. 8) says that NBC Universal bought Sparrowhawk (not NBC Global Networks). Zain Ebrahim (talk) 21:25, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

I cleaned it up a little, as the lead didn't make much sense after reading the Reuters article, and added the IHT article as a second ref. – ukexpat (talk) 21:35, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

But NBC Universal bought Sparrowhawk. NBC Universal Global Networks now says "...it acquired Sparrowhawk Media Group..." which I think is inaccurate. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 21:40, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

OK, I clarified further. We can take this to my talk page or the article's talk page if you prefer. – ukexpat (talk) 22:08, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Signature Help

I have made a new signature, but it says that there are invalid HTML tags. It appears fine in my sandbox, but it won't let me set it as my signature. I asked an experienced editor, and he can't find the problem. If you can help it would be great. The signature is Genius101 ^Guestbook . Thanks, Genius101 _{T. C.} 21:39, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

<span style="font-Arial">'''[[User:Genius101 Wizard|<span style="color:Red;">Genius</span>]][[User talk:Genius101 Wizard|<span style="color:Blue;">101</span>]] <sup> [[User:Genius101 Wizard/Guestbook|<span style="color:Green;">Guestbook</span>]] </sup>''' </span> That should work. Best wishes, —αἰτίας •discussion• 21:44, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

OK, thanks a lot! Genius101 _{T. C.} 21:48, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Umm, it's still not working. Could it be something to do with the state Wikipedia's in? AKA Server failure, slowness, unability to edit. Thanks, Genius101 _{T. C.} 21:50, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Did you check the "raw signature" box on the User profile tab of your Preferences? – ukexpat (talk) 22:10, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

(ec)Try this my friend:

'''<font face="Arial">[[User:Genius101 Wizard|<span style="color:red;">Genius</span>]][[User talk:Genius101 Wizard|<span style="color:blue;">101</span>]] <sup>[[User:Genius101 Wizard/Guestbook|<span style="color:green;">Guestbook</span>]]</sup></font>'''

That works, right? « Gonzo fan2007 (talk) @ 22:12, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks a lot GOnzo! That works perfectly! And UKexpat, I did have the raw signature box checked. I made that mistake once, anmd it won't happen again :). Thanks, Genius101 ^Guestbook 21:33, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Removing WikiProject banners

Hi. I have noticed that many talkpages indicate an article is within an innapropriate wikiproject; ie. a wikiproject that the article has nothing to do with. My question is if it is ok for me to remove innapropriate wikiproject banners without consulting anyone. Now I appreciate it may be 'nice' or polite or considerate etc. for me to inform the wikiproject in which an article has been erroniously placed of my opinion. However I am not interested in being nice, I simply want to improve Wiki. In a nutshell; would I be breaking any rules, guidelines etc; or would I receive a warning from an admin, if I removed clearly innapropriate wikiproject banners from talkpages? Willy turner (talk) 21:51, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

No, not if you leave an adequate edit summary. If someone disagrees and re-adds the banner, then you revert, that is a different matter. If it is obviously inappropriate: Football banner on Victoria Cross for example, then remove it, leaving an edit summary such as clearly inappropriate, no link to Wikiproject, then it should be fine. Woody (talk) 21:58, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

(edit conflict) No, be bold, you should be fine if the WikiProject banners do not apply. Many of such banners are placed by bots based on categories and so some pages are tagged incorrectly. - Icewedge (talk) 22:00, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for your help, thanks for giving me the answer I wanted to hear, and thanks for being conscientious enough to give answers to the help page in the first place. Willy turner (talk) 22:06, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Please make edit summaries as requested, and only remove clearly inappropriate WikiProject tags. If you think that is what you are doing then I suggest to slow down. Your very first edit after here (and the only with an edit summary) was [2] where you removed Wikipedia:WikiProject Sociology from state although the state is an important subject in political sociology, the article uses the word sociology 3 times (not conclusive by itself but a hint), and it was rated as high importance in the WikiProject tag you removed (a big hint). It was manually tagged and rated long ago [3] by a member of the WikiProject. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:59, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Temp and perm names for a WP translation

1. Where should an article translation into English be placed for proofreading/editing in cases where the target (English) name specified in the translation request already belongs to an existing page? (Even if the latter will ultimately be replaced by or merged with the translation, I don't want to overwrite it with the raw, unedited translation.)

2. How should the corresponding translation-mgt page (Wikipedia:Translation/...) be modified to track this change?

Example:

I'm currently translating the German article as requested at Wikipedia:Translation/Trichoplax. The name for the English version as originally specified in the request (Trichoplax) belongs to a short pre-existing article on the subject.

But when I created a proofreading/editing location for the English version at Trichoplax_adhaerens/translation_of_German_T_adhaerens_page and updated the corresponding parameter accordingly at Wikipedia:Translation/Trichoplax, it caused the "(more info)" link displayed by the translation-status template to point at a non-existent:

Thanks, JS (talk) 23:16, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

I've gone ahead and put the translated version in Trichoplax_adhaerens, which until now was a redirect to Trichoplax, so my example above isn't true-to-life anymore. The problem still remains, however: We need an SOP for satisfying a translation request that specifies a destination already containing a legitimate article. JS (talk) 17:20, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

September 27

editing/adding to new bio material

Hi,

I was told I needed to add my name to your site for my artistic talents.

I was able to add my name and it is in place....

NOW, how do I go about adding my BIO/CREDITS to that site, so that when someone clicks onto my name....(if they ever do) they can read the material and maybe see some pictures are other entries to the site, if possible.

Thanks so much for your service....

DAD —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jimthedadkeith (talk • contribs) 00:35, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Well... Although it isn't against the rules, it is generally looked down upon when people create auto-biographies. This is because Wikipedia holds a neutral point of view and all articles must fit the guidelines of notablilty. Also, information on Wikipedia must come from a reliable third party source. So I suggest that you request a biography if you can provide reliable sources that have discussed or researched you. If not the article will most likely not be created becuase you aren't notable. I find this unfortunate but that is another story. Scottydude _review 03:46, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Who told you that you need to add your name to Wikipedia? Did they actually tell you to list yourself on Wikipedia? One possibility: maybe you aren't referring to Wikipedia when you say "your site" or "that site." Sometimes people come to this Help desk asking questions about other sites or organizations about whom they have read articles on Wikipedia. Often this is because search engines such as Google list Wikipedia articles at or near the top of search results, sometimes even ahead of another organization's official site, so if you search for someone else, you might end up on Wikipedia instead. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, with 6,901,079 articles about many topics. Wikipedia has no affiliation with the people or things behind most of these articles. What site do you want to put your bio and credits on? --Teratornis (talk) 06:36, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

A Google search for Jim "the Dad" Keith brought me to this video, which suggests some small-town notability, and this page, which I presume is the "artistic talents" originally mentioned; however, I'm not sure it's enough for an article. Also, we do already have a page on Jim Keith, though I doubt they're the same man. GlassCobra 09:15, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

FA nomination

Hi there, I'd like to nominate this article I've worked on for FA (Lists) Status: Mark of the Year. I've already had the article peer reviewed, and I've fixed up most of the discreptancies. Is there anything more that would need fixing up, and if not, what are the chances of this article passing FL status? Thanks --Flewis^(talk) 04:05, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

As soon as I looked at it, I saw a typo in the lead section. Which I fixed. You might want to edit with the Mozilla Firefox browser, which has a spell-check option that underlines possibly misspelled words in the edit window (for example: "discreptancies", which I'm seeing with a red underline just now). For information about featured content, see the links under WP:EIW#Feature. --Teratornis (talk) 06:44, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Snakes on a Plane

when was the film "snakes on a plane" was released in the U.K.?

Refer to the article Snakes on a Plane. If that does not give you the information you need, you can try the Entertainment Reference Desk. Cheers. Chamal ^Talk ± 05:16, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Wikilinking within a page

I've written a paragraph about the Google Music service in List of Google products, in the Search section. Rather than repeat the paragraph in Google China, I'd like to wikilink to it. I can link to the section using #Search, but it's a long section. Is there a way to wikilink directly to that paragraph? (Maybe through adding some sort of 'anchor' at that point). Matt's talk 06:10, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

<span id="Google Music"> should have the desired effect, I believe. --erachima talk 06:11, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

See WP:EIW#Naviga, Help:Anchors, {{Anchor}}, and Help:HTML in wikitext#Span. --Teratornis (talk) 06:20, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Understood and implemented, thanks to both of you. Matt's talk 07:19, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Question

IS THERE ANY OPTION IN HERE TO ASK QUESTION NOT FROM ?

Could you please restate the question more clearly? --erachima talk 06:49, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Page move/redirect

I changed an article title using Move. I changed it again as I had used upper case instead of lower case, in error. I've just checked some of the links from other pages and instead of going directly to the article, they go to a redirect page. Would someone mind fixing my cock-up please. The article's original name was: St Lythans. The correct (and the current) name: St Lythans burial chamber. The name to where some re-directed pages are sent: St Lythans Burial Chamber. Many thanks, Daicaregos (talk) 08:55, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Done. When you move a page, it automatically creates a redirect from the old page to the new page. To avoid being caught in an endless loop of redirects, however, you're only allowed to be redirected once. If that redirect page takes you to another redirect page, you come to a crunching halt. That's what happened here. All that needed to be done was to redirect the first page St Lythans not to St Lythans Burial Chamber but to St Lythans burial chamber. Sorted. _Gb^T/c 09:00, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Many thanks  :) Daicaregos (talk) 09:15, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Help to print a page

I am using a MAC PowerBook g4. Is it possible to print

file:///Users/msjack/Desktop/Books_of_the_Bible.html    

Thank you. Msjack (talk) 09:47, 27 September 2008 (UTC)Jack

Have you tried the Computing section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there; this help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia. For your convenience, here is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 10:31, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Unless you're referring to the Wikipedia article Books of the Bible. If you are, just click on "printable version" in the toolbax at the left of the page and then do a print preview to check if it's what you want. Then print! Zain Ebrahim (talk) 10:34, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Image not updating properly

Can an administrator help me with my problem uploading images? I uploaded a new version of Image:Power5.png. The new version is correctly shown in the latest thumbnail in the File history (a 4-cornered figure), and where it is used at Mandelbrot_set. BUT wherever else this file is used, an old version (a 5-cornered figure) persists!

I uploaded a new version of Image:Power-5.png. The new version is correctly shown in the latest thumbnail in the File history (a 6-cornered figure), and where it is used at Mandelbrot_set. BUT wherever else this file is used, an old version (a 7-cornered figure) persists!

I uploaded a new version of Image:Power-6.png. The new version is correctly shown in the latest thumbnail in the File history (a 7-cornered figure), and where it is used at Mandelbrot_set. BUT wherever else this file is used, an old version (a 9-cornered figure) persists! Cuddlyable3 (talk) 12:41, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

It looks like Image:Power-5.png is only used at Mandlebrot_set and your Sandbox. What other pages are you seeing it on where it appears to be the old version? Image:Power-6.png isn't appearing properly Mandlebrot set, at least not so far as I can see, but likewise is only used on Mandlebrot set and your Sandbox. _Gb^T/c 12:48, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

These images are used only at Mandelbrot set Multibrot_sets and my Sandbox, plus of course on their own image pages. They now appear to be properly updated. Thanks. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 11:24, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

advise as to how to view past TV eipsodes

I dont know how to view past Tv episodes on this site. I located what I want to see but do not know how to view it. please advise. i am not too computer savy.

signed, Purplewaterhorse (talk) 18:41, 27 September 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) 18:47, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

(e/c)Wikipedia does not host any kind of TV episodes here. Perhaps looking at List of video sharing websites will help. GlassCobra 18:52, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Remove the external link icon

I know there's a way to remove the icon "external.svg" from external links, I just can't remember how to do it. Thanks in advance. — Hucz (talk) 20:07, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

{{Plainlinks}} x42bn6 Talk Mess 20:18, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

single set of curly brackets

What does a single set of curly brackets do? For an example of its usage, Template:Userboxtop. So far, no one on #wikipedia-en-faq can help me. ~ 10nitro (talk) 20:19, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

It's a table - so it creates something like this  :

Column 1	Column 2
row 1, cell 1	row 1, cell 2

In the case of the userbox template, it's a one cell table, I think - there's an awful lot of other stuff in there to define the style of the table and how it appears, but at its heart it's a one cell table. _Gb^T/c 20:33, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks! It didn't look like a table to me. We also got it on the IRC. I was going to say that, but we had an edit confict. Now I just had another on with Archeopteryx, he didn't create a new heading ~ 10nitro (talk) 20:43, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

For more information see Help:Table and WP:EIW#Table. --Teratornis (talk) 01:53, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Image address

Today, I uploaded an image of a train going u a mountain. I succeeded, but unfortunately, there was no

file name, so I couldn't attach it to my article. the following is the description:

(

File information

Description	Colored postcard of train operating on coast of Mt. Tamalpais.
Source	http://www.alamedainfo.com/mt_tamalpais_Ca.htm
Date	27 September 2008
Author	Unknown
Permission (Reusing this file)	Uncopyrighted image

)

Here is the web address: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Scenic_Railway_Mount_Tamalpais_California_42.jpg

Can somebody tell me the address so I can put it on the article? Contact me on my talk page.--Archeopteryx (talk) 20:36, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

[[Image:Scenic_Railway_Mount_Tamalpais_California_42.jpg]] ~ 10nitro (talk) 20:46, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Actually, you should replace the underscores with spaces when linking internally. Calvin 1998 ^(t·c) 21:09, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

That's a style choice, it doesn't really matter. I generally do , but I just copy and pasted :) ~ 10nitro (talk) 23:01, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Manual of Style (links) doesn't seem to mention underscores, which seems odd. A possible disadvantage with underscores instead of spaces in a link is that they might confuse new users who aren't familiar with MediaWiki's conversion algorithms in Wikipedia:Canonicalization. I don't think there is any functional difference. I understand the ease of copying page names from URLs, which will contain underscores in place of spaces. However, the vast majority of internal links I've seen on Wikipedia use spaces instead of underscores. --Teratornis (talk) 01:51, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

More expanding table questions

✓ Figured out answer to #2, Tt answered #3.
OK, wrt my table question above (24Sep08 when archived) - I've tried this two different ways and both of them make my table rows bigger and thus seriously reduce their presentability. So 2 specific q's and 1 general:

1. Looking at my hacking, in the table with "Expand Listing", I tried using the {{hidden begin}} template to encapsulate the expandable table. This works well except that {{hidden begin}} uses the NavFrame style, which has padding:4px; border:1px; (mw:common.css), and this makes the table row get big. I can defeat this in my own monobook.css - I experimented and purged, I'm 98% sure that style override makes the table row go to normal height. The problem here is that the {{hidden begin}} template has an undocumented {{{border}}} parameter, but when I try border=0px in the template call, nothing happens. What the xxx am I missing?
2. Now, looking just below that table, I tried Calvin's pointers for a "collapsible collapsed" table as a row element - the bit captioned "...Miscellany for deletion". This is even worse, I've tried every style I can think of and I'm still getting an internal box with padding. Should I be applying a style farther out in the DOM?
3. And generally, is there a wiki-index to where the various named styles are located? I've used various methods to download the various .css's, and some styles seem to be in .js's - then I searched at random through my downloads. Is there a comprehensive style index I haven't found yet?

So, objective 1 - expandable sub-table that doesn't make the row heights bigger; objective 2 - I do have some understanding of styles, but is there a central resource to find in which files this stuff is specified? Thanks for any in-depth help, lord knows my feet aren't touching bottom right now! :) Franamax (talk) 23:39, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

The lack of replies suggests you are asking some difficult questions. See the links under WP:EIW#Custom - if the information about styles is in writing somewhere, we want the Editor's index to link to it. Maybe Wikipedia:Catalogue of CSS classes will help, or lead to something that does. Also see the links under WP:EIW#Table; maybe something there will help. Your original question appears to be in the archive now:

• Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 September 24#Expandable table

just in case anyone who is following along wants to look it up. It helps if you explain why you are trying to do something, not just what you are trying to do. See: describe the goal, not the step. If you tell us what you are really trying to accomplish, maybe someone can suggest an alternative approach that will work. Also, user pages seem less important to many Wikipedians than the articles and project pages. If you can argue convincingly that what you are trying to do on your user pages advances the goals of Wikipedia, you may motivate more people to try help. --Teratornis (talk) 18:15, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I noticed the lack of responses, and was thinking of taking it to VPT instead. I always do my hacking in my own userspace, so it's a bad sign if people here will decline to answer questions on that basis (half of the problems I figure out for people on VPT are user-related).

As to the purpose, it's to produce an improvement on wannbekate's tool to allow a more in-depth look at editor contributions, for instance RFA and Arb candidates.

In any event, I got tired of waiting and figured out the problem myself. :) Thanks for the link to the CSS style catalogue though! Franamax (talk) 23:17, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

September 28

Yo wassup peoplez

pooop pooop pooop, here me now, tyrantinaway, respect to mah brotherz n ho's, i was wonderin weather i gots any chance to become an admin or woteva innit and how can i aply? safe. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.75.128.46 (talk) 03:36, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

See WP:RFA. -- kainaw™ 03:42, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

IPs cannot become administrators, only registered users with accounts with community consensus to make you an one during an WP:RFA will make you an administrator. -- RyRy (talk) 01:52, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

How can i report signbot?

He keeps being rude to me. he/she is disrepspectin me and when i said hi just ignored me f*king pr*ck —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.75.128.46 (talk) 03:54, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

User:Sinebot's a WP:BOT, it can't respond. --erachima talk 05:24, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Help with a timeline

I have been unable to get the timeline in 1994 Pacific hurricane season#Timeline display properly. And then Hurricanehink says that "I just tried kicking the timeline (by changing one of the values by a very small bit), and it worked for me in the preview mode. When I clicked save, it disappeared again."[4] Titoxd I was directed to seek help here at the HD. So please help there. Thank you. Miss Madeline | Talk to Madeline 05:22, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Never mind. Hurricanehink just fixed it and made it display. Miss Madeline | Talk to Madeline 05:27, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

New Article: Seven News Melbourne

I have my concerns about the usefulness of a new article on Seven News Melbourne page. It's an exact copy of what is from the Seven News page, and in my opinion is completely unnecessary. What should I do to voice my concerns about its usefulness? ThanksAlltrainzfan (talk) 06:48, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

After a small amount of Googling, I can't find non-trivial references to Seven News Melbourne so I have some doubts about the notability of it. (But note: I don't know if I'm being fair as I have almost no knowledge of media outside Europe.) The one external reference in the article is to yahoo.com/news which makes no explicit mention of the the subject. So perhaps you could nominate the article for deletion via the Wikipedia:Articles for deletion process to see what others think.--92.40.118.29 (talk) 08:15, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

I have redirected Seven News Melbourne to Seven News#Melbourne. – ukexpat (talk) 15:13, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Watchlist not updating

Well, I appear to have broken my watchlist somehow. It hasn't updated since 05:45 UTC today and it's currently 08:18 UTC. In an attempt to rectify this, I have tried / investigated the following things:

• I have refreshed the page (several times).
• I have made changes to pages that I know I am watching.
• I have come across pages that I know I'm watching which other uses have changed–still no update.
• I have chosen to watch pages which I wasn't watching before. They aren't showing up.
• I have gone into my preferences and fiddled slightly with the preferences and saved–just to see if it would "jog" it.
• I cleared cache, history, cookies, etc.
• I signed out and back in again.
• I have already read about the upwards limit of ~98000 watchlisted pages breaking the watchlist, but I only have about 177. I'd say it's not that! ;)
• I've read that a problem can render the watchlist blank. My watchlist isn't blank, it's just stopped updating.
• I've checked Special:Recentchanges and note that it seems to be working ok.

Is it just me? How do I fix it? Maedin\^talk 08:26, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Not working for me either, suggesting a system bug perhaps. These things usually get fixed quickly though. PeterSymonds (talk) 09:06, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#Watchlist not updating. __meco (talk) 09:17, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the answers. All working again :) Maedin\^talk 12:22, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

New protection layout

Hello everybody, i have seen from the past few days there is a new protection layout when an admin protects a page as to what shows up eg. this recent one to this one which was the old style. What has changed and where can i find more info. about this? I just dont like it when wikipedia changes like this and they dont even tell us, i personally dont like change and want everything to stay the same way. Its like when they added the "search in history" to the page history of a page. Ta kindly 211.30.19.204 (talk) 12:06, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

The new version gives the expiration by default. That's a good thing. Also, the programmers do that sort of stuff, it has little to do with the community. --erachima talk 16:04, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Translating articles

I haven't found the answer to my question on Wikipedia:Translation (or maybe, I missed it), so I pose my question here:

When I want to translate a, let's say, German article into English for the English-speaking Wikipedia, is there a template or something like that saying "This article is a translation of ...". Or it is sufficient to leave a note on the discussion page of the English article? TIA and greets, --Darev (talk) 16:12, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

I believe it is sufficient to leave {{translated page}} on the top of the talk page. But {{translated}} can be used as well on the article page. EJF (talk) 16:28, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Thank you very much! :) --Darev (talk) 16:45, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Template transclusion update lag - bug or just me?

I've changed a template today in order to point incoming links from it directly at a particular article rather than at a dab page. However, the old, unchanged version of the template is still displaying on all pages it transcludes to. Cache clearing and bypassing has no effect, and a "What links here" on the offending dab page still picks up all those transclusions in their old, unamended version. It seems the only way to fix it is to make a null edit to each page displaying the transcluded template; this manually updates it to the new version and the dablink is instantly fixed. It's a while since I went through this process, but I'm sure that in the past the change to a template has shown up immediately in all its transcluded appearances. A bug, a cache problem my end, my faulty memory, or what? Karenjc 17:19, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

This lag is normal. Give it time, and it will update on the pages where the template is used. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 17:21, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

If you're talking about your change to {{American conflicts}} to list 1838 Mormon War in place of Mormon War, then that change is showing for me in articles containing the template.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 17:25, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

I've updated most of them manually now, but if you're seeing the whole lot updated then the problem is probably with me. For the record, yes, the template is {{American conflicts}} and the dab page in question is Mormon War, which for me is still bringing up some results with the unchanged template when I do a "What links here". Thanks for checking :) Karenjc 17:35, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

When you find yourself making null edits to a page, you might want to try the method in WP:PURGE. I had a similarly odd problem when I updated the Template:Google custom/doc page, and my changes did not show up for some time on the {{Google custom}} template page (which transcludes the /doc subpage, per the guidelines in WP:DOC). So I purged the template page and that caused the document changes to appear. --Teratornis (talk) 17:41, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Everything should eventually be updated automatically but the time varies. See mw:Manual:Job queue. The current job queue length is at Special:Statistics. Null editing increases the server load. Just wait for the automatic update unless there are special circumstances requiring a faster update. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:46, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

That makes sense. There were only special circumstances in that a fixing run on a dab page linklist is pretty difficult unless the fixed dablinks actually do disappear from the list as they are fixed! However, I shall have a nice cup of tea while I wait. Thanks all the help, and thanks Teratornis for the purge hint - that's a good trick to know. Karenjc 17:56, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Image License

What license will be if the image was taken in 1942 at United States? Aquitania (talk) 23:04, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

That depends on what license the photographer (or other copyright owner) released the image under. What makes you think the image is licensed at all? Maybe the owner has not released it under any free license, in which case we can’t use it (except under the highly restrictive Wikipedia:Non-free content criteria). —teb728 t c 01:46, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

September 29

I Want a Phrase to Link to an Article

I want "London Sci-Fi Film Festival" (with brackets) to link to this article" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_sci_fi_film_festival because whenever I try it it shows up as a red link. How do I change it so it accepts the phrase? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.86.103.169 (talk) 01:47, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Use the code [[Sci-Fi-London|"London Sci-Fi Film Festival"]], which makes "London Sci-Fi Film Festival". The stuff after the pipe (|, shift+backslash) is what shows up, before that is the name of the article to be linked to. Calvin 1998 ^(t·c) 01:54, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

essay

how do the deeds of our war veterans have contributed to the freedom you have today —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.206.89.25 (talk) 02:21, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like a homework question and we don't do your homework for you. – ukexpat (talk) 02:49, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

computer syntax

I've noticed in some templates, templatequotecite is used, for example, [5]. In this case, it's used with other computer syntax. So I was wondering, what does this do, and how it works with other syntax, not just in the case that I linked above. Thanks, and a reply on my talk page or just to let me know you've replyed here with a linke would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!Assdga (talk) 03:01, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

It is a CSS class used in the formatting of {{quote}}. Here are the relevant definitions from MediaWiki:Common.css:

/* Styling for Template:Quote */

blockquote.templatequote { margin-top: 0; }

blockquote.templatequote div.templatequotecite { 
    line-height: 1em;
    text-align: left;
    padding-left: 2em;
    margin-top: 0;
}

blockquote.templatequote div.templatequotecite cite {
    font-size: 85%;
}

These have the effect of adjusting the appearance of the contents of the template when rendered. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 04:09, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

How A7 is meant to be interpreted

Hey, I was reading A7, which is as follows:

An article about a real person, organization (band, club, company, etc.), or web content that does not indicate why its subject is important or significant. This is distinct from questions of verifiability and reliability of sources, and is a lower standard than notability; to avoid speedy deletion an article does not have to prove that its subject is notable, just give a reasonable indication of why it might be notable. A7 applies only to articles about web content or articles on people and organizations themselves, not articles on their books, albums, software and so on. Other article types are not eligible for deletion by this criterion. If controversial, as with schools, list the article at Articles for deletion instead.

However, I've seen it used when an article asserted its notability but it still didn't meet guidelines. So is the rule meant to allow speedy deletion of what is not notable, or just what does not make a claim to notability? Chris Picone! 03:16, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Oh, if it's the latter (which I suspect it is), what do I do about it if I saw something like it? (The particular example I'm looking at is Conserve School which last time I checked (albeit a year ago) it had multiple independent sources that at least attempted to claim notability. Not to mention that notability for schools is pretty lax if I recall correctly. Chris Picone! 03:22, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

It needs to be notable, and make assert that notability. I thought that notability for schools was more strict. Regardless, that's a good speedy tag, IMO. Grsz^talk 03:52, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

I guess I'm confused then. Why would there ever be a discussion on AFD for an article's notability if you can just delete any article you feel is non notable? Chris Picone! 04:16, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Well, you can't. That's why there are discussions. Grsz^talk 04:20, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

That's not how I read A7 - to survive A7 an article merely has to indicate importance or significance and that is a lower standard than notability. Afd is the forum for discussion of deletion for lack of notability. – ukexpat (talk) 04:15, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, A7 is used when the article does not state why the subject is notable. If the article asserts notability, it cannot be speedy deleted, but instead deferred to WP:AFD for some actual discussion. Calvin 1998 ^(t·c) 04:22, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Articles don't have to be notable and assert it in order to survive A7; they just have to assert it. But see the original questioner's phrasing: "... give a reasonable indication of why it might be notable". I have seen A7-nominated articles whose creators have obviously tried very hard to assert notability but have failed, generally because their assertion is not specific enough. "X is an important public relations firm" may not be a valid notability assertion for avoiding SD, but "X is the biggest public relations firm in China" probably is, particularly if it's backed with a credible citation. The fate of a speedy deletion request rests with the admin who picks it up, and it's a fact that flawed requests do get made and accepted. (This is particularly true of G1, patent nonsense.) However, I've seen plenty of speedy requests declined by admins, including A7s where notability may not be established but is definitely asserted. If there's doubt, it's better practice to prod an article or take it to AFD rather than trying a speedy request, and it's certainly more courteous to the author. And if there's been a genuine attempt to assert notability but it's flawed, why not spare a few moments to look for evidence to improve it? Karenjc 11:41, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Inline citations

I am working on an article and this line continues to appear above it. I have cited everything that needs it could you please tell me how to remove it?

"This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.6.148.151 (talk) 03:49, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

I removed it from Catherine Gross - you could have done so too. I also cleaned up some of the other formatting, but it does still read like a PR piece. – ukexpat (talk) 04:22, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Deletion log mystery

Hello. I created Typo Eradication Advancement League which has now been deleted. I think speedy deleted, even though I put a {{hangon}} tag in it. I was planning to improve the page, but didn't get round to it in time, I guess. My question is, why can't I find it in the deletion log? Robinh (talk) 09:16, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

I find it without trouble at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Log?type=delete&page=Typo_Eradication_Advancement_League (also by clicking on the red link above). —teb728 t c 09:55, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, teb. But I wanted to see the content before deletion. The reason for all this is that I disagree with the assessment on notability. The TEAL did satisfy the conditions for notability, as I said on the talk page just after the deletion flag was added. And the page was deleted before I had any chance to improve it in any case. There was no discussion, just a speedy delete. So, next question: is there an appeals process? The case didn't merit speedy deletion, IMO. Robinh (talk) 11:02, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

The contents of deleted pages are only visible to administrators. The deletion log is just the notice that the page was deleted. It's displayed at Typo Eradication Advancement League while the page is deleted and permanently at [6]. See Wikipedia:Why was my page deleted? The first step if you disagree with deletion is usually to contact the deleting administrator, in this case at User talk:Seicer. You can ask for a userfied version of the deleted page so you can work on references to show notability. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:41, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Also note that adding {{hangon}} and comments on the talk page do not put the process on hold. The reviewing admin will read your comments, but is free to delete the article despite the hangon. – ukexpat (talk) 13:49, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks guys. I'll have a word with Seicer (it's not obvious that this is the first step until one has it pointed out!). I thought that {{hangon}} did mean to delay a speedy, at least for a little while. Evidently not enough time! OK, I'll speak with Seicer. Cheers, Robinh (talk) 13:57, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Help

could wikipedia help summerize information for homework purposes? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Saihou Sillah (talk • contribs) 14:19, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately not. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. If you're struggling to find relevant information on wikipedia, we'd be glad to help and if you can't find information on wikipedia or google, you can always try the Reference desk. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 14:31, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Be linked to other pages

Hi,

I would like to know how can I link my page to other wiki pages? e.g. Whenever someone wikis "Food", there would be a reference link that directs them to my page " First Flavor'. thank you!

blessings joyce Joycech (talk) 15:28, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

hi - if i understand your question properly, you probably need to get acquainted with this policy regarding external links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:NOSPAM#External_link_spamming

hope that helps Sssoul (talk) 15:55, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

I'm afraid the rules here don't allow what you'd like to do; we only need links to the best available information on a subject, and our rules don't allow us to create links to our own web sites. As you can imagine, with millions of users, if we allowed this, our articles would soon become too cluttered with advertising links to be useful as encyclopedia articles. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 15:57, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

a page in need

i just happened to come across this page while looking for something else: Davenant Foundation School it looks like it's been subjected to repeated vandalism for several days; i lack editing gizmos to revert it all in one fell swoop and am unsure where to report it, so ... so here i am. hope someone can take care of it, and/or let me know where to report repeated (but not currently-in-progress) vandalism in need of reversion. thanks Sssoul (talk) 16:03, 29 September 2008 (UTC)