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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Manors (talk | contribs) at 16:32, 1 April 2008 (Admin). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

      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).


      March 29

      Combinatorial mathematics

      HOW MANY GROUPS OF 5 CAN BE FORMED FROM THE 24 ALPHABETS WITHOUT RECURRING? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dollarman sika (talkcontribs) 00:02, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      That's better asked on the language reference desk. --Golbez (talk) 00:04, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Probably the math one is better anyway please turn off that caps lock :) We'd be all grateful. Snowolf How can I help? 00:10, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Wait, 24? Which letters did we lose? --erachima formerly tjstrf 00:38, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Lose? It sounds to me like we won 23 more alphabets. I wonder whether we are allowed to choose freely from List of alphabets. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:07, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Or perhaps all the alphabets containing 24 letters? The Mandaic alphabet perhaps? --Bfigura (talk) 01:33, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      I count 19 distinct characters in "THE 24 ALPHABETS WITHOUT RECURRING", so I'm guessing 11,628 where order is not important. Franamax (talk) 08:43, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      If the questioner can define the set from which he or she wants to choose combinations, the Combination article explains the combinatorial mathematics. However, the questioner also did not specify whether the groups of five are ordered or unordered. If they are ordered, also see Permutation. (I'm getting nostalgic for graduate school now. It's been enough years that I've more or less forgotten the emotional trauma.) --Teratornis (talk) 01:48, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Cheyne-Stokes respiration (I'm not asking for medical info, I'm reminding everyone)

      Cheyne-Stokes respiration is low on historical information.Kitty53 (talk) 00:16, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      This would be better stated on the talk page of Cheyne-Stokes respiration. Wisdom89 (T / C) 00:20, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Editing a template

      How do you change caption on the template on the article East Rail Line?Leolisa1997 (talk) 09:58, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      If you mean the big infobox-thing at the top of the page, that's {{HK-MTR route/East Rail}}. The image caption is in the 'caption' parameter. Algebraist 10:01, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Thank you.--Leolisa1997 (talk) 10:06, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      IP

      What is the highest number of IP addresses that one person has used to edit Wikipedia? 124.180.107.248 (talk) 09:59, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      There is (I believe) no way of knowing, but it's probably a lot. Some ISPs (AOL, for example) use a proxy system that gives a different IP to every edit. Algebraist 10:04, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      log on problems

      I am tryin gto log on, put my I keep getting the message that my password is incorrect, and even when I tried to reset my password, it didn't work. User:englishnerd 12:25, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Make sure You are not typing any capitals, if you aren't try capitalizing some of the letters. If this does not work, go under my prefrences at the top of the page give an email address in the box, hit save, and the next time login fails click Email new password. Good luck ~ DarkZorro 14:34, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      The poster was an IP address who manually added User:englishnerd. At login, I have sent a new password to the e-mail address registered for User:Englishnerd. Try to log in again if you receive it. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:41, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Further to articles in English on EXPO 67, the Universal and International Exhibition of 1967 in Montreal.

      Wikipedia

      EXPO 67 The 1967 Universal and International Exhibition in Montreal, Canada

      Introduction

      Yves Jasmin, OC, was Director of Public Relations for Expo 67. His concept was to have Public Relations as the developer of communications strategy, using information and advertising as tactical weapons.

      Yves Jasmin was hired in March 1964 and held his position until January 1968. He was part of the seven member management team which held twice weekly meetings to create and launch the huge undertaking of an exhibition, approved by the Bureau of International Exhibitions, an overseer of world exhibitions since 1928. Expo 67 was the first BIE sponsored exhibition in the Americas.

      With an original objective of 30 million visits, later raised to 35 millions, and with an extremely limited budget, Expo 67 reached the 50 million visit mark on the very last day of its existence, October 27, 1967.

      Yves Jasmin received the Ultimate Achievement Award from the Canadian Public Relations Society, the Golden Anvil from the Public Relations Society of America and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada (OC).

      He wrote a book for the 30th anniversary of Expo 67. It was written in French, no English language editor showing the slightest interest in the subject.

      He submits his own translation of the Table of Contents, to indicate the scope of his story.

      La petite histoire d’Expo 67 is the background story of the making of the Exhibition.

      Yves Jasmin lives in Montreal, Canada.


      I would like to attach to this statement my own translation of the Table of Contents. Is this acceptable ?

      Yves Jasmin,OC. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Camelot67 (talkcontribs) 14:31, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      All content on Wikipedia needs to be verifiable, but, if you can source your edit, feel free to add it in. Be bold in editing :) Steve Crossin (talk to me) 14:38, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Citation for "Elisabeth Rodriguez" article

      Hello, I recently created an article titled Elisabeth Rodriguez which is about a young Argentine writer. Before or after some sentences there is a "citation needed" link. i can provide web pages where I got my information but I'm not sure where to place them. My information is in the reference section but I can provide additional links where it says citation needed. The only problem I have is that I cannot find a way to put it there. Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Horsjumper123 (talkcontribs) 15:59, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      I can't remember if it's WP:REF or WP:CITE but one of them will explain. George D. Watson (Dendodge).TalkHelp 17:05, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      User edit counts

      Resolved

      Is there any way to find out how many times a user has edited wikipedia? ImperviusXR (talk) 16:36, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Yes, your edit count can be found here. Malinaccier (talk) 16:38, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Question about unified login

      Resolved

      Hi, I have accounts on other wikimedia projects (pt.wikipedia.org, fr.wikipedia.org and the username is the same in all) and I would like to change ALL my accounts from that projects to a unified login account, with a new username, is this possible? (I already checked and it is available in all, not yet created) can I keep all my contributions in the other projects? what is the best way of doing it? thanks in advance. SF007 (talk) 16:39, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Hi! Unified login is only currently enabled for admins, so unless you are an administrator, I'm afraid that's not possible. Stwalkerstertalk ] 16:42, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Moreover, according to the information page at m:Help:Unified login#Frequently asked questions regarding renaming, the answer is that you can't rename a unified login at this time but "We expect that a renaming tool will be developed when the need arises."--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 16:49, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      paradox

      as a dyslexic i find wikipedea almost impossible to contribute to so i need some help please. I have discoverd a new paradox relating to special relativity. How do i share it with others? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Raystaines (talkcontribs) 16:42, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Wikipedia is not the place for original thought, or original research, as described here. Stwalkerstertalk ] 16:44, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      How Can i edit and add one information in Wikipedia?

      I would like to share one link with a good information provide by you but i am not able to edit it. It was deleted by Wiki Staff daily. one External link is all ready add with that link please help me out

      this is the link where i wish to add link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_centre under Additional reading section.

      1. http://www.callcentersindia.com/call_center_forum.php 2. http://www.callcentersindia.com/call_centers_news.php —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.174.5.2 (talk) 08:41, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Pushkar —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.162.69.173 (talk) 16:44, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      If you are creating a page with an external link only, it will be deleted. If a link is to a non-reliable source, is not relevant to the article or is one you add a lot the chances are it will be removed from an article. George D. Watson (Dendodge).TalkHelp 16:52, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Oh, and Wikipedia does not have staff, just volunteers. There are some MediaWiki foundation staff with accounts but they are so few, and usually so busy, that the chances are they didn't delete the link. George D. Watson (Dendodge).TalkHelp 16:54, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Please review our guideline on adding external links. I don't know what link you were attempting to add but if it has been removed multiple times as you intimate, especially by multiple users, it very likely does not meet or is actively disfavored under our rules. If you advised the name of the article and the link we would be better able to assess your help request.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 16:55, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Question about future merging of accounts to a unified login

      Resolved

      Hi, I have accounts on other wikimedia projects (pt.wikipedia.org, fr.wikipedia.org and the username is the same in all) and I would like to change ALL my accounts from that projects to a unified login account, keeping all the contributions, (maybe one day if I become an administrator), should I reserve my username in all today? or if I do this, it will later cause me problems because the username is already in use? thanks in advanceSF007 (talk) 17:04, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      See #Question about unified login. George D. Watson (Dendodge).TalkHelp 17:08, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      This is not answered by the former post. Yes, I would go ahead and create accounts. If the system as implemented for non-admins functions as it does now, it will automatically merge identically-named accounts if they have the same authenticated email address, or you can correctly provide you passwords on other accounts, so it shouldn't cause any problems later. What you are protecting yourself against is another person starting an account under the same username. Those accounts would be foreclosed.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 17:19, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Right ulnar anti sensory.

      Questions: The left ulnar motor showed increased latency and the right ulnar anti sensory showed decreaded velocity. Answer these two question please.--72.83.140.196 (talk) 17:39, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      This question might be more applicable at one of the reference desks. This page is for helping users with Wikipeida operation/usage. Wisdom89 (T / C) 18:02, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      I would suggest that this sounds like the beginning of a homework question, which Reference desk people won't answer for you (even if you actually provide the question). However, if you explain what you're having a problem with, they may be able to help you get past it. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 01:58, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      I did not vandalize

      All I was doing was researching at this library and a message shows up on screen saying "You have new messages (last change)." I clicked on that and the address I was sent to was

      http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:166.82.103.142&redirect=no

      and it had increasingly stern warnings about vandalism. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 166.82.103.142 (talk) 17:42, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Because you are using a shared IP address, you are recieving messages meant for other users. To avoid this, you can register an account by clicking "Sign in/Create account" in the top right corner of the screen. Creating an account has many benefits which may be viewed here. Thanks, Malinaccier (talk) 17:45, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      I've added a shared IP address to your talk page. That way people will know it's a library and will be more caution when blocking. If vandalism continues, a soft block is likely (this means you can edit only when logged in). George D. Watson (Dendodge).TalkHelp 23:38, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      General availability of unified login

      Resolved

      I found no information about this, it is currently only for sysops, but is it planned for the "regular" users? and for when? thanks in advance SF007 (talk) 17:42, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      I believe this topic/issue was addressed a few sections up. Wisdom89 (T / C) 18:03, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      No it is not, this is a different one, but thanks anyway SF007 (talk) 18:09, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      It is enabled for sysops only at the moment, as a test of the system. Regular users are to be added later I think. See m:SUL for more info. Stwalkerstertalk ] 19:12, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      It should be available to all users April 1.   jj137 (talk) 19:13, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Thank you very much! SF 007 (talk) 19:38, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Tournament Brackets

      I was looking for the page on here for the format of tournament brackets, but after a half an hour of very hard searching, I came up lame. Can anyone help? Thanks! Stjimmy61892 (talk) 19:08, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Is this what you're looking for?   jj137 (talk) 19:12, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Well, sort of. I was more looking for the format for how to do them, like, rather than a 16-team, maybe a 32 or just the format in general. But yes I am also on that page VERY often :D ::huge basketball fan, very pissed UConn lost in 1st round to San Diego:: —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stjimmy61892 (talkcontribs) 21:09, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      We have an entire Category:Tournament bracket templates, so you should be able to find whichever bracket you need. If not, I'd suggest copying the source into your userspace and playing with it to your heart's content, which is in my opinion the best way to learn these sorts of things. I'd point you to a page that explained how to make them, but I'm not sure one even exists. Someguy1221 (talk) 21:14, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Thank you someguy, that is exactly what I was looking for.Stjimmy61892 (talk) 21:18, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Okay. I want to clarify that I'm on solid ground here before I start digging myself a hole: List of 2008 NASCAR races. Take a look at that table. Should the drivers' names be wikilinked after the first occurrence in a table, or no? I think they should; [User:NoseNuggets] appears to think not. Which is right? Gladys J Cortez 19:19, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      "do not create links to (...) The same link multiple times (...) (Table entries are an exception to this; in general each row of a table should be able to stand on its own)." From WP:OVERLINK. So, this means that in tables every link should be linked again if it occurs later. Rayhou (talk) 19:28, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      As I thought. Thanks!Gladys J Cortez 20:34, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Can someone make a artikel on my website ?

      Hallo

      Can someone make a artikel on my website- www.ivanov-hosting.com and just say when is founded and thinks like that. I will appriciate it very mutch

      Regards

      Yordan Ivanov —Preceding unsigned comment added by Silverbros (talkcontribs) 19:34, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Not likely, unless it meets our notability guidelines for websites. Also, since you are affliated with the site, there would likely be a conflict of interest. Wisdom89 (T / C) 19:36, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Editing Article Titles

      Resolved

      -weburiedoursecretsinthegarden 21:20, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      How do you edit an article title that has an error? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Puertonatales (talkcontribs) 19:46, 29 March 2008 (UTC) Puertonatales (talk) 19:47, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Once your account is four days old, you'll see a "move" tab at the top of the article. You can use this to rename the page. See Help:Moving a page for more information. Hersfold (t/a/c) 19:48, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      What page is it? -CWY2190(talkcontributions) 19:50, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      What if I didn't create the page but I want to edit the title?Puertonatales (talk) 19:52, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      The same still applies...but if you want to move the page to an already existing page name you will find this impossible. You would have to contact an admin to do so...--Cameron (t/c) 19:54, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      It looks like your account was created today. You can't move a page until four days after account creation (to prevent vandalism). After four days you will see a 'move' tab at the top of a page. That would let you move the article to a different name. -CWY2190(talkcontributions) 19:55, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Thanks!Puertonatales (talk) 19:56, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      I am trying to create an article but whenever i submit it all the text is on one line going straight across the page for quite some space, what should I do?

      You've put a space before the text. Take it out, it should be fine =P weburiedoursecretsinthegarden 21:19, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Followup question - This may be a stupid question, but WHY does the system behave in that way when there is a space before the text? Wanderer57 (talk) 22:26, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      I believe it's just so there's any easy way to force text into a boxed off area in a monospace font that doesn't word wrap; it's very useful when you need to write in unrendered code or some other example text. And given that we don't indent the first line of a paragraph, there is little reason to need to add spaces at the beginning of a paragraph anyway. Someguy1221 (talk) 22:33, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      In MediaWiki's markup, that's how we do preformatted text. — Kieff | Talk 23:03, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Personal Sandboxes?

      Are there such things as personal sandboxes? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stjimmy61892 (talkcontribs) 21:30, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Yes - you can create one here.   jj137 (talk) 21:32, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Wikipedia join date

      How does one find out when they first joined Wikipedia? (Not when they made their first edit.) I joined sometime back in 2005 probably, but I want to know when exactly. Thanks! --Alexc3 (talk) 21:42, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      You can check the user creation log. For some reason, though, I'm not finding your log entry, though... Hang on. Hersfold (t/a/c) 21:49, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      The log only goes back to sometime in '06. I don't think there's any way of knowing if it's before that. Algebraist 21:51, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      The page says, "This log goes back to approximately June of 2006; some accounts older than that appear in the log, but most accounts created May 2006 and earlier do not." There's got to be some way to find out though. :\ I don't have any confirmation e-mail about joining Wikipedia in my Gmail account as far as I can tell, which I've had since late 2004. --Alexc3 (talk) 22:03, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      To the best of my knowledge, Wikipedia doesn't send out confirmation emails for registration (or at least it didn't in early 2005 when I registered). Other than approximating based on when you first edited, I'm not sure there's any way to pin it down. Canderson7 (talk) 02:43, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Oh well, thanks anyway. If anyone sees this sometime and knows how to find out when I registered, please send me a message on my talk page. --Alexc3 (talk) 08:03, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      • You did check your user contribs, right? I know it's not a failproof method, but assuming you started editing immediately upon register, then Special:Contributions/Alexjohnc3 says you registered on the 20th of April, 2005. And even if you did not edit immediately, that still gives you a latest possible registry date. Sorry, I doubt you'll find anything more exact than that. --erachima formerly tjstrf 08:09, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Yep, I did check that, but I'm not sure if I started editing as soon as I joined, that's the problem. It's not a big deal, but I couldn't find out when I had registered for sure so I thought someone might know how. Thanks anyway! --Alexc3 (talk) 00:55, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      printable page

      when I went to the printable page for this article the map did not print out anything like it looks on the page. The whole thing had been "dragged and stretched to the right over a convex structure" and was in essence meaningless to a bunch of young people learning about the pole star. This is well beyond my capabilities, was it me or ? Thanks. Edmund Patrick ( confer work) 22:10, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      I just tried it and my printout looks pretty much the same as on my computer screen. Maybe you do have a problem with your computer, the printer, or the driver software. Did the text below the image also stretch and distort on your print out? Is it just this image that is affected when you print? Can you get just the image and print that correctly? - note that the raw image is pretty large so perhaps it will be cropped. How about downloading the image and using an image editing program to print it. Astronaut (talk) 02:19, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Thanks for the work. it was only the image that was distorted and I tried the separating downloading bit. I did not though try it through an editing tool. I will do that next. Thanks. Edmund Patrick ( confer work) 13:12, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Problems logging in

      Resolved

      I've been having lots of problems logging in, sometimes my username does not work.... it is a mess, it is because of my username, i choose one, but instead got another one due to technical limitations... can please someone chage it? at: [1] Thanks in advance SF 007 (talk) 22:33, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      March 30

      Daylight savings time

      Does Wikipedia change to use daylight savings time? Astronaut (talk) 02:06, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Wikipedia always uses UTC for it's time but users can make it appear that all times are in their particular timezone in their preferences. Nanonic (talk) 02:18, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      change username on wikipedia of another language

      Resolved

      I need to change my username on a wikipedia of another language. I have problems logging in because the username is "broken", but they dont' have many bureaucrats and only from time to time they go to the page of the requests, I would like to know if I can had a request somewhere else. thanks in advance. SF007 (talk) 03:38, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Placing a request here won't do any good. I'm afraid you'll have to wait for a crat's assistance on the other language. Sorry. Hersfold (t/a/c) 04:37, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      You can go to Meta. Check meta:Steward requests/Username changes. -- ReyBrujo (talk) 04:41, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Do you have many edits in those languages? I should think not if you don't know the languages. And if not, why not just abandon the usernames and create new ones (if you really even want usernames in the languages anyway. —teb728 t c 05:58, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      How can this image possibly not be copyrighted, unless the uploader is the photographer, editor and what-not of the book mentioned in the original upload text? --Ibn Battuta (talk) 04:01, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Given the name of the uploading account, he very well might be the author and publisher of the book [2]. Unfortunately, the account has been inactive for a year and a half, so it might be impossible to verify. He has email enabled, so that might work for contacting him...If the copyright question becomes an issue (i.e. someone IFDs it and the others from that book) the usual procedure is for OTRS to confirm his ownership of the copyrights. Someguy1221 (talk) 04:31, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      I've listed the image at WP:PUI for discussion - just in case. Hersfold (t/a/c) 04:36, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      deleting an article in a Mass moderated AFC archives page

      There is an article on an archived page under the "Category:Mass moderated AFC archives".

      The top of the page reads "All article submissions on this archive page have been mass moderated, and none of the remaining submissions are suitable for articles on Wikipeida", and each article has been tagged as not conforming to the standards of wikipedia, with a stated reason.

      One of the articles on one of these pages makes statements about a living person which are derogatory and not referenced, and therefore, the article meets the requirements for a "Quick Deletion" and it has even been marked for a quick deletion. The article, however, has NOT been deleted, it is two years old, and Google has picked up on this article.

      In summary my question is how do you delete an article that appears on one of the archived pages under "Category:Mass moderated AFC archives". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.69.212.209 (talk) 04:25, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      If you can provide a link to the particular section, I can blank that submission out, which should have already been done. However, we can't delete the entire archive for copyright reasons. Hersfold (t/a/c) 04:28, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Here is the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_creation/2006-11-30#Bobby_Rose —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.69.212.209 (talk) 01:14, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      I have deleted the section. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:28, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Transclusion problem

      Something is wrong with the transclusion function. {{2007 NBA Draft}} and {{2006 NBA Draft}} should both be transcluding the current version of {{NBA Draft template list}}. However, they are transcluding different versions. I have tried using different browsers and the problem persists.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 06:06, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Just as a guess, I have purged Wikipedia's server cache for all three templates. Is it still malfunctioning?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 06:15, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      They look the same to me...It could also be your browser's cache, which you can also purge (Wikipedia:Bypass your cache). Someguy1221 (talk) 06:18, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Yes they are working now, but the 15 others from 1985 to 2005 that are not redlinks are not working.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 20:26, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Hey I have a wiki web page. I found out that wiki search engine doesn't support keyword search feature. 155.246.169.126 (talk) 07:03, 30 March 2008 (UTC)I am just wondering it there a way to get keyword search feature on wiki. Or can we install another search engine on wiki?155.246.169.126 (talk) 07:03, 30 March 2008 (UTC) Thanks.[reply]

      Hi. This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. A better place to ask your question on this site would be at the computing section of the reference desk, where information questions are answered. However, the Project:Support desk at MediaWiki is probably the most targeted place to ask your question.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 07:11, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Before Common Era or Anno Domini

      Hey I'm Just windering if you could tell me if there is a universal time standard, I have seen article that use AD over CE and i have seen articles that use BCE over BC, I think it should be BCE and CE over the AD/BC because its more for everybody regardless of religion, but is there the standard, if not canwe pass that along to someone to tell them to make a standard, cause what if i decide im going to make a page in say... Hewbrew Calendar dates, or whatever, like I know most people use the; I think Gregorian Calendar, but what if?--Jameogle (talk) 10:14, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Currently most of these sorts of questions are covered by WP:MOSDATES (in particular WP:MOSDATES#Longer periods). That doesn't mean it's impossible to change such things, just a touch difficult once things already have so much momentum across so many pages. If you're interested, you're of course more than free to start discussions in venues such as the village pump. :) – Luna Santin (talk) 10:39, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Gaining consensus on this is almost impossible. Many people are just used to BC/AD, and others feel that BCE/CE is an insult to their beliefs. Like the argument of American English vs. British English, it's going to be something that gets done on a per-page basis. -- Kesh (talk) 20:45, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      I keep changing the article back to its original title. However the article won't revert after trying many times. Why is this? There was no consensus to change the artilce title. Also it's licensing not licencing (licence the noun, license the verb). Ozdaren (talk) 11:05, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      I've moved it to Driver licensing in New Zealand, it worked fine for me. Is your account over 4 days old? If not you can't move pages. George D. Watson (Dendodge).TalkHelp 14:44, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Thanks. I've had my account for a number of years. Strange all the same. Ozdaren (talk) 21:56, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Format of citation

      Hi. How should this citation be formatted? Kipnis, B.A. (2001-10-08). "Tel Aviv, Israel - A World City in Evolution: Urban Development at a Deadend of the Global Economy". Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network at Loughborough University. Retrieved 2007-07-17. Cities in Transition. Ljubljana: Department of Geography, University of Ljubljana, pp. 183-194.

      It is a report made at University of Ljubljana but this is published at Loughborough. Thanks. Flymeoutofhere (talk) 11:47, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Where to ask merging usernames?

      I have user name on Милан Јелисавчић on meta, sr.wiki and other Serbian language projects and commons. Also, this was my username on English language wiki but I renamed it to Milan Jelisavčić. I heard about single login and I would like to this usernames bi merged in the database, but I don't know where to ask? --Milan Jelisavčić (talk) 12:04, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      You can request to change usernames at Wikipedia:Changing username. If the account already exists then you will need to go to Wikipedia:Changing username/Usurpations. You might have to list it at WP:USURP as you already own the account User:Милан Јелисавчић and a crat should waive the 1 week waiting period. Regards. Woody (talk) 12:21, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Also, single user login has only been activated for administrators for the moment (to test the system and make sure it isn't completely buggy), but it does sound like a good idea to get your usernames in order now for when it's released to everyone else. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 22:29, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Contact an Admin SARAH?

      Being computer semi-illiterate, I saw the was a lits of Admin who would furnish copiesof delated articles etc. How can I lease a message for Admin "Sarah"? Foumnd her page but not idea how to leave a message Thanks

      Fred646 (talk) 12:54, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Go to the admin's userpage (the title, the big black letters at the top of the page, should start with User:), then click "discussion" at the top of the page. Then click the "+" button at the top of the talkpage. Fill in the section heading box and then type your message. Xenon54 12:57, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      HELP!!! i screwed up an artical

      Resolved

      hi, i recently just tried to update/edit an artical but i have messed it up completely. What should i do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moffat23 (talkcontribs) 13:13, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Hi! If you mean the article Shao Jiayi, I have just fixed it for you. :) Stwalkerstertalk ] 13:18, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      You can click the "history" tab at top of Shao Jiayi to see the page history, and click "last" next to the edit by Stwalkerster to see the fix.[3] You must have accidentally clicked the Ab icon above the edit box in this edit. The icon inserts [[Link title]] (where "link title" is supposed to be replaced by the name of a page you want to link to). You can click "last" next to your own edits in the history to see what you did, or click the time of a version, and copy the right parts to a new edit. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:32, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      My PC crashed before I could click "save" for my Wiki work-in-progress! How can I recover it? HELP!

      ~ Can someone PLEASE HELP ME? I just spent all night working on a Wikipedia page "Bathory (2008 film)" and did a MASSIVE expansion on it, with loads of information, background, dozens of cross-references and citations. It was the first large (for me anyway) Wiki project I've ever done and I was SO happy with how it had turned out, after hours of careful re-editing and original research.

      Well, you can probably guess what happened next - JUST before I was about to finally SAVE my work on Wikipedia (I don't know why I had only been PREVIEWing it up till that point, but I had - MANY times in fact), my PC mysteriously shut down and restarted! Now all my work seems to be gone. I'm almost on the verge of tears here. :-(

      My question is: Can I recover the all the painstaking work I just did? Is it in my PC somewhere? I'm pretty adept at PCs and can look for it if it's saved in my browser's cache somewhere (I'm using Firefox 2.0.0.13, and Windows XP Pro), my search so far isn't going so well. Since I clicked on PREVIEW so many times, I'm hoping that my work is stored temporarily either on my PC or perhaps even on Wikipedia somewhere (but for that I don't even know where to begin looking, if it's even possible!) I guess the issue is recovering lost "form field data", is that right? And is it possible?

      Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! Thank you very much.

      Monk777 (talk) 13:40, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      You have the right idea, that's the data you need to recover. However, if you have used Firefox's Clear Private Data function, this data wil be lost. However, finding the data will not be easy, if possible. I'm not entirely sure how you could do this, but one suggestion for the future would be to write your article in some word processor, and paste it in when you are done, or click save every now and again, instead of just preview. Stwalkerstertalk ] 15:21, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      My usual method for long edits is to write in the edit box with use of preview, and sometimes copy the current content to a text editor, or just to the Windows clipboard with Ctrl+A followed by Ctrl+C. I cannot help with the already lost data. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:27, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      This seems to be a common question here. Basically, it's best to write articles (or do major editing) in a separate text-editor like Wordpad or SubEthaEdit, so you can save your work on your computer. -- Kesh (talk) 20:47, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Deleted entry

      I'm new to this so I'm trying to understand why my entry was deleted. I added Kennedy's Pub abd Market to the points of interest list under Marlboro, Ma. I understand why it was deleted the first time I entered it because i put a link to our website. I saw others listed in the same spot with links and didn't realize they were links to other articles in Wikipedia. But now just listing the name seems to be getting deleted still. I was told not to add "promotional material to articles". There are others on the same list that would be in the same boat as us, businesses in town. We are one of the longest running family businesses in town, have had many events documneted in local papers including our annual St Patrick's Day celebration. Why are other establishments able to be listed under points of interest that are businesses? Just trying to understand the rules of the game. Please advise. I enjoy and use wikipedia frequently and want to understand what is going on. Thanks for your help.

      sgogan —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sgogan (talkcontribs) 13:41, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      You have a Wikipedia:Conflict of interest so you are strongly discouraged from making article edits about it. I don't know anything about the city. You can suggest the link on Talk:Marlborough, Massachusetts where other editors can evaluate it. The editor who reverted you can be contacted at User talk:Hello Control. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:19, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Additions like this should adhere to our notability guidelines, preferably satisfying WP:CORP. This is similar to a "famous persons" area in a city's article: only people who are notable should be added. -- Kesh (talk) 20:49, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      There were some inappropriate items there, and I've trimmed them out. --Orange Mike | Talk 00:03, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Fair enough. Based on what I originally saw listed there, I didn't think it was an issue. We are a well established landmark and destination in town and thought that we could be listed. I understand your point. Thanks for your help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sgogan (talkcontribs) 16:12, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      I am a registered user, Elizabeth Scales, and wish to change a reference in the Stoke Field entry. Unfortunately when I click on edit, only part of the item comes up, not the part I wish to edit. The reference to Lord Scales is wrong. As Earl Rivers' biographer and author of a book about Sir Edward Woodville, I wish to amend the reference, using my historical knowledge.

      14:58, 30 March 2008 (UTC)~ Elizabeth Scales

      I think the problem you are seeing is that because of the large infobox, one of the edit buttons is in the wrong place. I see two edit buttons (it may vary depending on browser) and the lower button does edit the section that you want to edit. If all else fails you can click the "edit this page" button at the top of the screen.
      Whatever you edit, be sure not to rely on your historical knowledge. All material should be cited to reliable sources. Sbowers3 (talk) 15:14, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      I've fixed the bunching problem (on Firefox 2.0.0.13, at least). Algebraist 21:24, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Teaching profession

      Would like to have information about the teaching profession and why it appeals to certain persons?59.180.96.86 (talk) 15:28, 30 March 2008 (UTC) <email removed>[reply]

      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. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:30, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Advertising

      what is sales promotion, public relation, advertising and marketing? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.162.19.85 (talk) 16:48, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      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. Paragon12321 (talk) 16:49, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Sounds suspiciously like homework to me... George D. Watson (Dendodge).TalkHelp 19:44, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      New biography

      How do you write a new biography? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.140.9.99 (talk) 18:02, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      I assume you mean on wikipedia. To create a new page, you first need to get an account as anon users cannot create pages. Once you've done that create a link by putting double square brackets around the title you want. Hit preview and then click on the red link. An edit box should cxome up. Start typing. Theresa Knott | The otter sank 18:09, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      For the longer answer, which actually goes towards answering the question "How do you write a new biography, and not get it deleted within 5 seconds?" ...
      You will need to first register an account, which has many benefits, including the ability to create articles. Once you have registered, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.
      Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.
      If you still think an article is appropriate, see 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. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 22:25, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Talk page subpages

      I have been cleaning up Talk:Ludwig Wittgenstein (adding {{unsigned}}, archiving etc.) and have noticed a couple of sub-pages - Talk:Ludwig Wittgenstein/Sexuality and Talk:Ludwig Wittgenstein/SemitismAndHitler. Is there an approved style for linking to these pages from the main talk page? I think the links should go near the top (maybe by the archive box) but am not sure. Any help appreciated! DuncanHill (talk) 18:38, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      If these are old discussions (as in, not ongoing) they should be added to the Archivebox template for the page. It's common for long, off topic discussions to be archived on their own. In fact, I'll take a look at these and see about cleaning up the archive box to make this a little better. -- Kesh (talk) 20:52, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Thanks, DuncanHill (talk) 20:56, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      I've gone through and standardized the archives. They all follow the "Archive #" name, and have a template that makes navigation easier. The discussions that were moved off to their own pages have been incorporated into this, to make it easier to find and follow. Hope this looks good! -- Kesh (talk) 21:10, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      SACEUR

      Background Bio of General Bantz J. Craddock, current SACEUR/EUCOM Commander,a U.S. Army General. Does WIKIPEDIA foresee future of this great soldier having being featured in this superb media? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.9.112.239 (talk) 19:21, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      No we don't, and please do not ask nonsense questions. Nothing444 20:26, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Actually, I think we do have an article on the individual in question: Bantz J. Craddock. Canderson7 (talk) 20:29, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Well if we do, you should've gone to the reference desk. "That desk, that desk, its only a link away" (a parody on the tommorow song from wizard of oz or some other musical. I don't blame you if you think its not funny) Nothing444 21:28, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      inserting a picture into a wikipedia article

      I've read the faq on inserting images...I created an account in commons...I uploaded my jpeg and can see my jpeg...but when I attempt to insert it, nothing happens...or a box with my jpeg link appears. What am I doing wrong?19:39, 30 March 2008 (UTC)~~ I even copy and paste the format that the "uploading images" tutorial provides me.

      EX I use this template found under help and under the category, adding images to file.

      File:Image name
      Caption

      only in this case I use my jpeg image BSpencerhome.jpeg

      I'm not sure I'm understanding what I'm doing wrong.

      Any direction would be greatly appreciated <email removed>

      Try [[Image:Image name.jpg]]. George D. Watson (Dendodge).TalkHelp 19:41, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Or .JPG, upper case (I tried it and it works). Cheers, Antandrus (talk) 19:42, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Hudson Cutler is a hoax?

      I really believe that the Hudson Cutler article is a hoax and I tagged it as such shortly after it was written. I didn't tag it for speedy-delete because it's actually pretty well-written and contains some valid facts. I would really appreciate it if members of the Wiki community would review it and determine if it should stay or go. (Or maybe it's a candidate for April Fools?) Is there a process to request someone to look at a potential hoax article? Thanks. Truthanado (talk) 20:12, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Since that article claims that he won the Nobel prize aged one, I think it's might just be a hoax..... --87.112.38.211 (talk) 20:20, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      The "Flathead laboratory" mentioned may be something to do with Zork, which I understand to be some sort of computer game. DuncanHill (talk) 20:24, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Some of it is verifiably false such as the alleged nobel prizes. The author's username User:Towel45 was created today both here and at http://digg.com/users/Towel45 where it made [4] about the alleged Hudson Cutler. Your appropriate tagging with {{hoax}} puts the article in Category:Suspected hoax articles which is a way to draw attention to a possible hoax for evaluation by other editors. If you think a suspected hoax requires expert evaluation then you can also post to the talk page for a relevant WikiProject, for example Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Chemical and Bio Engineering, but that doesn't seem necessary here. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:20, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      What happened here please?

      In Dermatophyte, starting from:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dermatophyte&oldid=195013650
      

      something odd has happened.

      1. there were two sections called "Classification"
      2. An IP replaced a bunch of content with "pea]]" for some reason, presumably vandalism, but not clearly so. ("pea]]" is part of a link, added by a bot, to a non-English Wiki article on the same topic)
      3. there are steps missing from the edit history.

      The missing information makes it very confusing to figure out. I don't know if it is possible to sort out what went on here.

      Wanderer57 (talk) 20:51, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      I reverted to the last good version I could discern, but I don't see anything missing from the edit history. Someguy1221 (talk) 21:01, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      It looks like normal vandalism removal of content in [5] to me. "pea]]" was the ending of the former version and part of "[[wa:Tchamosseure del pea]]" which was added in [6] by a human editor. Versions in the history can be oversighted so they become invisible to both normal users and admins. I haven't seen evidence that this happened to the article. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:33, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Help:Section#Creation and numbering of sections says: "Section names should preferably be unique within a page." The article could be edited to fix this but it's not a big problem. My talk page (which really should be archived) has 13 sections with the same name. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:41, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Thank you both. Not sure now why I found it so confusing. Could it have been the tequila and nachos for breakfast? Nah! Wanderer57 (talk) 22:16, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      use of singular "they"

      I'm in the process of doing some minor edits on an article (Charles F. Hockett) with (ironically) imperfect grammar. The author also regularly uses "they" in the singular, which is painful to my eyes and brain, but I do understand that it is acceptable. Does Wikipedia have a policy about whether I should or should not let singular "they" usage remain? 128.135.96.205 (talk) 21:10, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Depends on the context. He or she is preferred. George D. Watson (Dendodge).TalkHelp 21:12, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      See Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Gender-neutral language. There is also a page on meta, meta:Quest for gender-neutral pronouns, with a number of suggestions on how to deal with such sentences. Basically, "they" might be better than "he," but there are very likely much better ways to deal with it. And the reason the gender neutral form is preferred is that the use of gender-specific pronouns where the gender is actually unspecified may suggest a certain point of view, such as that only men should be doctors (To steal from someone else: A doctor must take care of his patients; this could be fixed as A doctor must take care of his or her patients; and of course a grammatically more pleasing way to solve this is with Doctors must take care of their patients). Someguy1221 (talk) 21:30, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Whatever you do, please, PLEASE do not use Xe or Co or whatever THEY are trying to make up. Paragon12321 (talk) 23:32, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      To quote from the meta link provided above: "This use of singular they has existed in English since the 15th century and is commonly heard today". I'm not one to argue with 500 years of history :-) Personally, I find the singular they a useful way to avoid using a gender specific phrase. Astronaut (talk) 05:27, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Circular Redirect - Leave or Fix?

      Example: Page A contains a link to Page B. Page B is a redirect to Page A.

      On the one hand, it's circular and my instinct is to remove the link, i.e. I would leave the text but de-wikify it.

      On the other hand, apparently there was once a dispute about whether Page B should exist or not and eventually it was deleted. I imagine that the circular link is a leftover side effect of that...

      (Page A describes a company and Page B describes one of it s products.)

      Should the link stay because perhaps Page B will be recreated? Or should it be cleaned up? Your thoughts?

      Elsendero (talk) 21:27, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      What are the pages involved? Has one been deleted? I don't think I have the full picture here. —— nixeagle 21:30, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      The article is Mindtouch. The opening paragraph has a link to Deki Wiki. My question is about the appropriateness of cleaning such links in general, not specifically for this page. Elsendero (talk) 21:41, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Basically, yes, the wikilink should be removed. It's not only confusing to readers, it's redundant. Anyone who searches for Deki Wiki will be redirected to Mindtouch anyway, so linking back to the redirect is rather pointless. Looking at it another way, if the redirect didn't exist, this would be a redlink, which is frowned upon. -- Kesh (talk) 22:24, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Since when are redlinks frowned upon? O.o Redlinks are just articles needing to be created! Though in this case, if the article was created and later deleted, we probably don't need to link again. —— nixeagle 00:31, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      See WP:RED for guidelines on when to create red links. Red links are only useful when they link to articles that someone will eventually create, and the article subjects meet all the requirements such as notability and thus have a chance to "stick" rather than getting deleted. The surest way to justify a red link is to create the new article yourself, at which point the link is no longer red. When we create red links and just leave them, basically we are telling other users to do some work for us. For the encyclopedia to work, there have to be more people actually creating things than people who merely think up jobs for someone else. Wikipedia has enormous backlogs of things that need work, so it would be nice to chip away at the existing backlogs rather than add to them, if possible. Also, since we have 6,896,322 articles now, there's a good chance we have suitable link destinations for lots of things. If no article exists at a particular name, an editor should {{google wikipedia}} to see if another article covers the subject. --Teratornis (talk) 00:50, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Yes, I know, but knowing things need done is a step forward. Backlogs are great because now articles needing attention are tagged and bagged so we know in the future that they need fixing. The idea that redlinks are somehow evil is one that I've never understood. If you are working on one article it does no harm to leave red links to related articles that may someday be created. Backlogs are bad, but we have to remember that things need doing whether they are tagged or not. I'd rather have the backlog I can see, then the backlog that I don't know about. Now back to working on the m:Talk:Spam blacklist :). —— nixeagle 01:24, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      I'm not saying red links are evil. Wikipedia must have had huge numbers of red links in its early years, when most notable topics still had no articles. Back then, red links were a handy low-overhead method of creating to-do lists. This is fine for a young wiki. Perhaps the objection to red links now is that they are a somewhat crude way of managing backlogs. In a well-developed wiki like Wikipedia, some people might prefer a more orderly approach to organizing our pending work. For example, if we mark things that need doing with the appropriate messagebox templates, then it becomes possible to generate coherent lists of backlogged tasks, which editors can work on systematically. With red links, they tend to scatter randomly among millions of articles, and people would just have to stumble across them to see what needs doing. Also, now that Wikipedia is more popular, readers outnumber editors by a large margin, and having red links might tend to confuse people who are only here to read. The other problem with red links is that creating new articles on Wikipedia that will "stick" can be very difficult. We are showing red links to millions of casual visitors, most of whom are not nearly ready to take on the harrowing task of creating articles for them. In any case, the only rule on Wikipedia seems to be Ignore all rules, so there will always be some people who like red links and some people who hate them. I don't think we can have a policy that says "Everyone must agree that red links are evil." That would be contrary to everything I like about this place. --Teratornis (talk) 18:18, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Is the "collapsing" of references encouraged?

      Articles will often show the same item multiple times in its reference list.

      It seems to me to be an improvement when such a reference is listed only once.

      If I understand correctly, the way to do this is to add an "name" attribute to 1st occurence of the reference element for the item in question. And then to refer to that name in the subsequent occurrences.

      I want to be sure before making edits to do this that this is considered appropriate. Thoughts?

      Elsendero (talk) 21:35, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Yes, if the reference is to the same thing multiple times. Please provide example articles for further questions. It really helps to have an example to point to. —— nixeagle 21:40, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Here's one: iPhone OS version history. I notice the last 2 references are the same. In fact I noticed it because I was trying to understand what the DumZiBot does. If collapsing references is encouraged, would be nice to have a bot do this, eh? ;) Maybe I'll suggest it to the author... Elsendero (talk) 21:49, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      (ec) That is indeed the correct way to handle things assuming the references are exactly identical. On the other hand, sometimes a single reference appears multiple times in the reflist with citation to distinct page numbers; in this case, shortened notes form should be used if you still wish to collapse the references. Someguy1221 (talk) 21:44, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      How to reuse a reference is described at Wikipedia:Footnotes#Naming a ref tag so it can be used more than once. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:50, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      The name can be on any of the refs; it doesn't have to be on the first one. I sometimes duplicate the ref data even though I use a name. That way if later a piece of text with ref gets deleted, all the other refs of that name will still work. Sbowers3 (talk) 21:57, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Well, it depends on how you're formatting your refs. A named ref will always appear in the reflist with the information contained in the first instance. So if you format refs the way I do, using just an underscore in all subsequent references for easier readability in edit view, then it is very important that the first ref contain the information! Someguy1221 (talk) 22:08, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Actually, no. You can have the ref data on the first, last or any of the refs, on one, many, or all of the refs. For readability you could have the short form with the trailing backslash forward slash on all of them except have the full ref with data as the last one. E.g. for readability you might use the short form on all refs that are in the middle of a paragraph, then put the long form on a footnote that happens to be at the end of a paragraph whether it is first, last, or in the middle. Sbowers3 (talk) 23:24, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Well, if I'd known about that trailing backslash option...Someguy1221 (talk) 23:33, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Oops. Forward slash not backslash. e.g. <ref name=fred/> Sbowers3 (talk) 23:43, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      adding notable Belizean artist to existing category

      How can I add biographical information to the "O" section within this category (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Belizean_artists) about a Belizean artist.

      Rdoliver (talk) 22:37, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      The artist must have an existing article on Wikipedia, and then you add the template for [[Category:Belizean artists]] to that article. Categories are automatically populated by articles that have the template in them, so you can't simply add a name to a category without the article on the person. -- Kesh (talk) 22:41, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      RMS Mauretania

      I have a postcard of RMS Mauretania New York to Southhampton sailing June 6th 1950 Abstract of log on back is this ship still sailing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.4.72.43 (talk) 23:43, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      We do have an article on this ship, at RMS Mauretania (1938). In future, the Reference Desks would be a better place for this type of question. DuncanHill (talk) 00:33, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      March 31

      Samantha Turba

      Samantha Turba at age 8 saved her little brother, Zachary Turba, by doing the heimlech manuver. Samantha calls it "the pushy belly thing". She saved Zach's life on his birthday. That was Zach's favorite present. Samantha says,"I pushed a little on his belly 1st. But nothing came out. The second time I did it a little harder. Still he was choking. The third time I pushed very hard and the pepermint and some pewk came out." Samantha and Zach were at their mom's,Michelle Turba,work in Tupelo where they live. Michelle had to check on something and left them in her office. They took a pepermint and sucked on it. Mrs. Palmer, Samantha's second grade teacher, had taught her class the "pushy belly thing" thankfully. Zach started to choke but Samantha didn't believe he was choking. Then his face turned purple. She did the manuver. Then after it was out she ran to her mom and said,"Zach is choking!" Michelle ran to her office. She found the pepermint and pewk on the ground. Michelle says,"I can't believew she handled it on her own. I had never taught her that." Zach's birthday, on August third, was a day he will always remember, he was saved by his sister. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.137.76.85 (talk) 00:11, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      and.... how can I help you? Do you have a specific wikipedia related question? —— nixeagle 00:29, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      A Wolf in Bot's Clothing??

      How can a bot make this edit?

      http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Book_of_Mormon&diff=next&oldid=202048919
      

      Thanks, Wanderer57 (talk) 00:18, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Probably the Bot's operator was reading/editing without logging out of the bot account...or disabling the script that generated the automatic edit summary...No way to know without asking him, I guess. Someguy1221 (talk) 00:26, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      There are some even more impressive edits on User talk:VolkovBot signed by User:VolkovBot. Either that bot is smart enough to handle the Turing test, or the bot owner edits by hand occasionally using the bot account. The bot's page appears to indicate the bot owner might be on the Russian Wikipedia, so maybe he/she doesn't have a separate non-bot account on the English Wikipedia. --Teratornis (talk) 00:33, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Thank you both. I have left a note for the Bot on Russian Wikipedia. If the Bot is smart enough to edit the English Wikipedia, it should be able to understand my English. I have to hope it does not reply in Russian. Wanderer57 (talk) 00:49, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      This diff to an earlier edit indicates the bot accidentally edited an old version instead of the current. I have posted this to the Russian page ru:Обсуждение участника:Volkov where the operator also posted. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:02, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      (off topic) I made the edit to the Russian Wikipedia 20 minutes ago and it was already in Google when I searched 5 minutes ago.[7]. Google doesn't offer a cached version and hasn't found my above help desk edit yet but I'm impressed anyway. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:21, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      If the bot replies in Russian, one can be smart enough to pass the Russian test with Google translate. --Teratornis (talk) 17:49, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Template:Cite press release

      The {{cite press release}} template is eating both the date and accessdates. I.e., on the second edit both parameters disappear. I am having troubles at Roanoke Building with the template.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 01:15, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      I think it is a Firefox addin that I have had problems with in the past.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 01:22, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      All I could tell wrong was that you had the "date" parameter in the template twice, but that didn't seem to actually be the cause of anything. Someguy1221 (talk) 01:26, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      I couldn't see any problem in the hisotry. If you still have problems then please be more specific about which diff caused it and what problem you see. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:30, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      JPI Image use

      Image:PASSCharlieBeth04.JPG is uploaded from Soap Opera Digest which buys the image from JPI so they can use it. Does it really fall within fair use or is it copyrighted to JPI/SOD who paid for use of the image? KellyAna (talk) 02:35, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Copyright stays with the creator of a work unless there is a clear transfer of the copyright. Paying for the permission to use the work (i.e. receiving a license for it) does not transfer the copyright. However, your second sentence seems to be a little confused about fair use - fair use is a justification for the use of a copyrighted work without being licensed to do so. Hence, a fair use image on Wikipedia is one where the copyright lies with someone else, and they haven't released it under a free license. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 03:46, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Help with creating a company wiki and personal bio wiki

      Woodcs82 (talk) 02:41, 31 March 2008 (UTC)Woodcs82, Hi,[reply]

      We have a Large Gig booking/Talent & Venue network called igigyou.com, and we would like to create a wiki page about the company.

      I would also like to create a personal wiki for myself, the President/CEO of the company with a bio.

      I would really appreciate your help with this.

      Thank you,

      Colin S. Wood President/CEO, IGIGYOU LLC igigyou.com

      Username - woodcs82

      Please see the following WP:ADVERT, conflict of interest, reliable sources, notability for companies and organizations, and neutral point of view. These would all be relevant material to absorb before creating an article about what you have indicated. Wisdom89 (T / C) 02:49, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Please also take note of Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not. In particular, Wikipedia is not a repository of links or a directory of sites/companies; and as pointed out above, it is not a place to simply advertise your company.
      However, there is nothing stopping you creating your own wiki site on your own servers (or those of your hosting company). You will need the media-wiki software - this link is probably a good place to start.
      Astronaut (talk) 05:03, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      If I understand correctly, iGigYou.com is a startup business; so it is highly unlikely that it already fulfills Wikipedia’s notability guidelines for organizations and companies. But I believe you would be welcome to edit its page at aboutus.org or create a page at wikicompany.org. Similarly I doubt that you already fulfill Wikipedia’s notability guidelines for people. But I believe you would be welcome to create a biography on WikiBios. —teb728 t c 05:49, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      clear history

      I have used Wikipedia many times and now when I enter a letter to search heaps of previously searched words appear. How do I get rid of these to start again? thanks

      222.153.239.254 (talk) 04:06, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Sounds like your browser is saving old text bar entries to "save you time" -- methods for clearing out such entries vary by browser, of course. – Luna Santin (talk) 04:08, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      On Firefox it's tools/clear private data/saved form and search history. On IE tools/delete browsing history/delete forms works. On most browsers you can also remove items one-by-one with the delete key. Algebraist 13:50, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Somebody deleted what I had put up

      Somebody called irishguy deleted my page on the band the 'Guildean Gang'. It met your criteria for bands as I has referenced it with an outside source i.e newpaper reviews, single reviews etc. So what gives him the right to delete it and if he did it with your authorization how can you delete it if it matches your criteria?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lewey005 (talkcontribs) 07:47, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      If the newspaper articles were any of these, then that'll be why it has been deleted.
      • Media reprints of press releases, other publications where the musician/ensemble talks about themselves, and advertising for the musician/ensemble.
      • Works comprising merely trivial coverage, such as newspaper articles that simply report performance dates or the publications of contact and booking details in directories.
      • An article in a school or university newspaper (or similar) would generally be considered trivial but should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
      (Taken from the criteria itself). Lradrama 09:28, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      The deletion reason given in the log was: (A7 (group): Group/band/club/company/etc; doesn't indicate importance/significance)
      In other words, nothing in the article made a claim that shows this band meets our notability guidelines, which takes precedence over WP:BAND.
      I see you've already made a post on User talk:Irishguy, although the wording was a bit confrontational. I also see you mention "we" in reference to the band. Please be sure to read our conflict of interest guidelines. If he declines to restore the article, you can make a request to have the deletion reviewed at WP:DRV, where admins can view the deleted article and decide if the deletion was proper. -- Kesh (talk) 11:54, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Coats of arms

      Hi. Could somebody make transparent the background of these 3 coats of arms? File:Wappen Bled si.pngFile:Wappen Ljubljana si.pngFile:Wappen Skofja Loka si.png I'm currently lacking a good image editor. Thanks. Húsönd 12:11, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      PROBLEM WITH THE LOG IN

      Dear frIends :

      I'm a registered user in Argentina and I'm having problems loging into the Wikipedia.

      I'm translating for a page here and having constant problems: I cannot log in. I created 2 diferents counts and can´t use none of them. Please give me advise what's the problem.

      Waiting for your help,


      Mariano Calvento

      mariano108 (username) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 170.155.145.2 (talk) 13:09, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      You must create an account at each language Wikipedia. The English Wikipedia currently has no account called Mariano108 [8] (the first letter is automatically capitalized). An English account can be created at Special:UserLogin/signup. See also Help:Logging in and come back if you still have problems. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:33, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      can't login even w/ new temporary pwd

      I haven't logged in in quite a while, so had apparently forgotten my pwd. (BTW, am using a new laptop since last login.) i made only 1 login attempt, then asked for e-mail of temporary pwd. I copied the received temp pwd (minus the quote marks) into the login pwd box, entered the anti-bot character string. Login failed twice, w/ same error message: Incorrect password or confirmation code entered. Please try again.

      I then asked for another replacement pwd, but see that such request is invalid.

      Now what?

      (username: questioner1K ) the e-mail address registered to my username is still valid (that's the one the temp pwd was sent to).

      Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.169.99.191 (talk) 13:25, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      You get the same error message "Login error:Incorrect password or confirmation code entered. Please try again." whether it is your pasword or the CAPTCHA (anti-bot character string) that is not accepted. Usernames and passwords are case sensitive. See also Help:Logging in. Some CAPTCHA's are tricky. Try again with the password you have already received. Your account only has 2 edits and creating another would be OK. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:51, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Translating texts

      I would like to translate some documents to Portuguese, How could I do it? I was searching, but I dont found.! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rodrigoluis.sa (talkcontribs) 13:27, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      If you mean translate Wikipedia pages between different language Wikipedias then see Wikipedia:Translation and pt:Wikipedia:Tradução. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:37, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      If you just want a quick machine translation you can use Google translate. For some examples see the {{Google translation}} documentation. You can also search the Help desk archive for: translation to see some previous discussions and examples. --Teratornis (talk) 17:44, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Vandalism

      I was informed that I vandeled someones article and if it happened again, I would be banned from Wikipedia. Well I have used this site and found some good information or at the very least it pointed me in the right direction. There is no way that I would or did vandel anything on this site. It says in your message to "be careful to avoid offending people unintentionally," well I bring this up because I am truly offended. It said that my IP address is 24.86.128.157. Please take a look at this situation and let me know what you find out, if you get the chance. At the very least I need you to remove the message that I vandeled anything. Thank You for your time. Jack Wissert≠ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jdubeeus11 (talkcontribs) 14:26, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Before you created an account, your IP address might have been dynamic or shared by other anonymous users who might have received multiple warnings or committed acts of vandalism. This is one of the benefits of creating an account. You can avoid such messages in the future. Wisdom89 (T / C) 14:44, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Special:Contributions/24.86.128.157 shows no edits by that IP address and User talk:24.86.128.157 has not been edited. Are you sure you got that message for that IP address at the English Wikipedia? Other IP addresses like User talk:24.86.128.151 have many warnings. Whatever the IP address was, Wisdom89 is probably right that warnings were given for edits by other people who had the same IP address at the time. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:30, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Hussein Chalayan Biography

      Dear Wikipedia Team,

      My name is Hussein Chalayan, I am a Fashion Designer who is featured on your website. I have recently noticed several mistakes in my biography, and tried to amend them myself. I was then notified that that wasn't possible for some reason. I don't really mind who or how the information is amended, but I really want someone to look into it asap, if I cannot do it myself. I understand that you cannot allow anyone to amend everything on a page, but in this case the mistakes are quite elaborate, so I am keen to resolve the issue, as your site is so popular.

      Should you have any further questions, or need to contact me directly, please do so on <email removed>

      Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

      Best regards,

      Hussein Chalayan <url removed>—Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.160.202.172 (talk) 14:43, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Presumably you were editing as User:Husseinlife? The problem was that you were making large changes to the article without explanation, and removing material that was sourced. When questioned about the changes on your Talk page, you did not reply. Eventually, after repeated attempts at asking you for explanation, you were indefinitely blocked from editing. If you really want to contribute it might be best if you contact the admin who blocked you via email and ask for an unblock. Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EmailUser/Theresa_knott, explain that you will discuss the matter before making the big changes again, and ask to be unblocked. Corvus cornixtalk 17:27, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Alt codes

      So I've been looking at the Alt codes page a few times over the past few days, as it had a table of a lot/all alt codes on it. However, I go to check it today, and the table isn't there. According to the history, it never was there, and there haven't been any edits over the past couple of days. Given that past hallucinations have never been quite so informative, I'm pretty sure I'm not just imagining this, so uh, anyone know what I could be doing wrong here? 86.27.160.229 (talk) 15:23, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Google-cache shows no such table in that page six days ago. You might find what you're looking for in Category:Character sets, or one of the subcategories therein. Also, I saw nothing in the page that could cause a table to appear and disappear like that. Someguy1221 (talk) 15:35, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      74 articles later and, to my dismay, still no such page. This is really confusing me, as I'm fairly certain I couldn't just imagine a few hundred characters worth of working alt codes (both with and without preceding zero), particularly given that I only knew about 5-6 offhand before :( 86.27.160.229 (talk) 16:06, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Oh, uh, yeah, that's exactly what I was looking for. I guess it must've somehow been stuck in my cache until today (as I seen it last night). Odd, that's never happened with any other wikipages. But thanks for that - mystery (mostly) solved! 86.27.160.229 (talk) 17:38, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Instead, why not take a look at the relevant code page article: Windows-1252, Code page 437, Code page 850 or the complete list of Code pages. Astronaut (talk) 20:15, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Writing "invisible"

      How do I make the writing "invisible" in an article but at the same time as it is visible when a person tries to edit the article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.166.179.90 (talk) 15:40, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Place the text within <!-- --> Someguy1221 (talk) 15:43, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      For more details and an example, see: Help:Wikitext examples#HTML tags, at the bottom of the table of examples. --Teratornis (talk) 17:20, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      picture upload

      I want to put pictures on a new page I just created but I need to upload them from my computer and am not sure how this works. I read the instructions and it's a little confusing to me. Can you help please? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mcnamara melissa (talkcontribs) 15:40, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Here is the upload page (found on the left, named "Upload File"). What part's confusing? The actual uploading of the file, or picking the right licence/fair use/copyright/etc template(s)? 86.27.160.229 (talk) 16:10, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      There's a lot that can get confusing about uploading images (such as copyright issues). See Help:Images and other uploaded files for basic instructions. If that doesn't answer all your questions, see additional links in the Editor's index under: WP:EIW#Images and WP:EIW#Copy. --Teratornis (talk) 17:26, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      no references/puffs

      What is the easiest way to mark an article that cites no references clearly as such, or as a puff, which is what most of them are? Generally, is there an effort being made to discourage these pests who use wikipedia to flog their products or promote themselves?58.136.52.192 (talk) 16:13, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      You may add this ({{unreferenced|date=March 2008}}) template to articles that are unsourced. All articles on wikipedia must not try to "flog" their product but must maintain a neutral point of view. See our policy Wp:NPOV. --Cameron (t/c) 17:10, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      For more information, see WP:TEMPLATES for our general list of messagebox templates that we use to mark articles that need work. Some other templates you might find useful are on these pages:
      Also see WP:ADVERT for our guidelines against trying to use Wikipedia to advertise, WP:PEACOCK for our guideline against promotional language, WP:COI for our warning against editing with a conflict of interest, and WP:EL for our guidelines for external links. We use the word "linkspam" to describe inappropriate promotional links that some users sneak into otherwise valid articles. See: WP:EIW#Spam for more information about that. Yes, there are lot of ways that some users try to subvert Wikipedia, and we need your help to keep Wikipedia neutral. --Teratornis (talk) 17:38, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      new article

      Hi, I just submitted a new article. IVEDC when is it suppose to be available when I press save. Also how do I need it meets all the criteria. when I press search IVEDC it dosen't find it. please advice thanks --IVEDC (talk) 17:44, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      It appears that you've created the article on your user page. Simply search for IVEDC and click on the link that says "create this article". Cut and paste what is on your user page into the white box and click save. However, please bear in mind a few things. 1.) WP:ADVERT 2.)conflict of interest and 3.)notability. Wisdom89 (T / C) 17:52, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Also, your contributions show that this page was your first edit under your account. If you are new to editing on Wikipedia, be aware that creating new articles and making them "stick" is one of the more failure-prone tasks here, a lot harder than making small edits to existing articles. Wikipedia deletes lots of articles for failing to comply with our policies and guidelines. Our policies and guidelines are complex, and often at odds with the assumptions of users who are new to Wikipedia. Your introduction to Wikipedia editing might be smoother if you began by making small edits to existing articles, so you learn how things work, before trying to create a new article. --Teratornis (talk) 17:58, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      I might mention that Wikipedia frowns on role accounts, that is, accounts not associated with a particular person, but with an office, position, or task. If you only created the User:IVEDC account to edit an article about IVEDC, that's probably going to be a red flag to our deletionists. --Teratornis (talk) 18:02, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      american revolution

      I am trying to look up information about the american revolution but from the perspective of the British. How would I do this with the site.

      Kevin Madden Principal, Martin Elementary —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.218.238.221 (talk) 18:14, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      You could search Wikipedia with Google:
      which finds a few results; some of Wikipedia's articles cite some references that may do what you want. Just for fun, you might also try asking your school's smartest student for advice on searching the Web. I would be curious to know if your students are far enough along with computers to have learned how to use search engines to answer questions like this. If they aren't, then I suggest they need to be taught. Searching the Web is an enormously practical skill that will probably be even more important for future workers. --Teratornis (talk) 18:27, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      As far as British reactions to the American revolution go, you may be interested in Category:British laws relating to the American Revolution. Someguy1221 (talk) 18:36, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      The search term 'American War of Independence' may be useful (it's the standard British term). Algebraist 19:06, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      For a British view of the American War of Independence, you could look at Chapter 2 of Niall Ferguson's book Empire. But of course there are many different British views of the war, just as there are many different British views of anything. Torve (talk) 10:17, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      LA's Prom Closet

      Hi can you please add us to the list of Free Prom dress organizations list like the Cinderella project. We are "LA's Prom Closet" a non-profit servicing Los Angeles Counties High Schools with Free prom dress. You can email me at <email and phone removed>

      Thank you so much!

      Natalie —Preceding unsigned comment added by Laspromcloset (talkcontribs) 18:21, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      This is a page for questions regarding the use of Wikipedia. Please sign future edits with four tildes (~~~~). Thank you! --Cameron (t/c) 18:55, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Creating Article

      I want to create an article for ispokesperson (Internet Spokesperson). Can someone assist with this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Vendvision (talkcontribs) 18:49, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      You may be interested in Wikipedia:Your first article, as well as the notability criteria for individuals. If you have a more specific question, feel free to ask. Someguy1221 (talk) 22:07, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Youtube, Myspace, and Fansite Refs

      Sony BMG Greece maintains official youtube accounts, myspace pages and fansites for their artists. [9] (see bottom left corner) Since these sites are managed by the record label itself, does that mean that sourcing the information is now acceptable? Grk1011 (talk) 18:54, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Company public relations flacks are not reliable sources. --Orange Mike | Talk 19:12, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      so if they post an interview on their youtube account, or write a note on their myspace about an upcoming release i cant source that? Grk1011 (talk) 19:15, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      You can use the sites for further reference, but not as a source for a claim. Corvus cornixtalk 20:19, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      My Biography

      I have written a biography of my life and would like to submit this biography to Wikipedia. Please tell me how to submit my biography. Thank you! Dr. Carl Proehl <email removed>—Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.130.150.46 (talk) 19:36, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      I think that violates WP:AUTO. Sorry. Grk1011 (talk) 19:43, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      I believe that autobiographies are welcome at WikiBios. —teb728 t c 20:11, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      It would be acceptable if written in the third person, and conforms to WP:NPOV, WP:V, WP:NOR, and you are notable per WP:BIO. However, it's strongly discouraged. Have somebody else write it for you so there is minimal conflict of interest. Wisdom89 (T / C) 20:13, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Origin of the South Atlantic Medal

      Just a quick question, I plan to expand an "Origin" section here.

      On forums I've heard; The design of the ribbon is attributed to HM The Queen. This precedent was set by her father who designed the WW2 ribbons for the stars. She prepared a pastel sketch and it was sent to Toye, Kenning and Spencer Ltd who produced 14,000 mtrs of ribbon. The medal was authorised under the terms of Command Paper 8601. Perhaps you could mention this no when contacting the Medal Office. Alas I have no information as to who designed the medal but im sure this will be included in the Command Paper.

      So I plan to write a letter to the "Ministry of Defence Medal Office". Now assuming they write back and confirm this (or give me another story), How do I convert make that physical letter into a reference for Wikipedia? Ryan4314 (talk) 20:16, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      The letter would either have to be published in a reliable source publication, or would have to refer you to published sources to which you could make reference. --Orange Mike | Talk 20:28, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      So a letter with MOD headers, looking all official wouldn't cut it? Not suprising really, suppose it could be faked. So my letter to them would basically have to be a request, asking them to point me in the direction of a book that states it, or some website somewhere? Ryan4314 (talk) 20:43, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      That would be a great idea. Corvus cornixtalk 23:14, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      A letter from the MOD medals office, which is Kentigern House in Glasgow AFAIK, would constitute a piublished source as long as you cite it with the file reference, date oof publication and the title of the letter. That would then make it accesible through a Freedom of Information Act request so it can be validated by another user.
      ALR (talk) 08:07, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Great, cheers ALR. Although I have been given a different address, so could you perhaps E-mail this Glasgow one as well please.
      P.S. Just about to reply to ur E-mail, very interesting. Ryan4314 (talk) 10:12, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      I'm not sure of KHs address, the alternative I imagine you've got is Centurion House, Grange Road, Gosport. The office used to be there but I understood it had moved, miht be wrong though.
      ALR (talk) 13:37, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      The MOD Medals office is in Gloucestershire, contact details at this link [10]. DuncanHill (talk) 13:50, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      art

      who do you judge a way of arts? examples —Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.19.148.120 (talk) 20:27, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Not entirely sure what you're asking here, but, if it deals specifically with art, and not a wikipedia issue, then you should ask for help at the reference desk. Wisdom89 (T / C) 20:53, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      who is floxtar?

      I tried to create an article on "floxtar"

      But it got refused as its supposed to be about a real person. I received the following error: "A tag has been placed on Floxtar requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done because the article appears to be about a real person, organization (band, club, company, etc.), or web content, but it does not indicate how or why the subject is notable: that is, why an article about that subject should be included in an encyclopedia.(..)"

      My question is: was this deleted by wikipedia admins and if so: what is floxtar? is it a band/person? Where can I find evidence on that?

      regards, Floran —Preceding unsigned comment added by Floranf (talkcontribs) 20:42, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      You wrote the article. You're now saying you don't know what it is? Please don't use Wikipedia to promote your website. Friday (talk) 20:51, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Notice the "or". The message says it's about a real person, organization, or web content. Being a website, floxtar is the last of the 3 options. It's a standard message for 3 different types of content, corresponding to Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion#A7. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:25, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      My changes appears on some computers and not on others!

      Hi,

      Last week I did change my previous comments about "Partial Element Equivalent Circuit" in this address:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_electromagnetics#Partial_Element_Equivalent_Circuit_.28PEEC.29

      Now I can see that my changes are visible from my home, but when I check this page at work, there is still old page! My colleagues also see old page from work. I have delete my cache at work but it is still old page. Why it is not updated for all?

      Regards,

      Danesh Daroui —Preceding unsigned comment added by Danesh Daroui (talkcontribs) 20:48, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      According to the article's editing history [11] your edits were undone by an IP address, although they did not specify why in their edit summary. If you would like to make large changes to the article, I would suggest making your recommendations on the article's talk page first. Wisdom89 (T / C) 20:55, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      The only edit by your account is removing blank lines.[12] I guess from your post here that the 130.240.188.35 edits were by you. Some ISP's store cached pages outside the control of the users browser. Maybe that happened at your work. If you click history and then the most recent date then you should get the current version (assuming the history page is not cached). PrimeHunter (talk) 21:15, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Template for Media citations

      When a newspaper or television programme cites a specific Wikipedia article...we have a template for that, right? I can't seem to find it. Sherurcij (Speaker for the Dead) 21:27, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      See {{Onlinesource}}, {{Notable citation}}, {{Press}}, {{high-traffic}}. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:37, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Much thanks, I was google-searching WP and couldn't find any of them! Sherurcij (Speaker for the Dead) 21:41, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      A-class article

      Where do i go if an article needs reassessment and is no longer A-class quality? The one i mean is the London Underground. Or should i just send it for a peer-review? Simply south (talk) 22:15, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Quality ratings below good and featured are assessed by the relevant WikiProjects. WikiProjects trains explains their quality ratings here. I'm not sure for WikiProject London Underground, but you could ask them about it. Someguy1221 (talk) 22:23, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      A-class is a tricky one, because it's not an "official" rating like GA and FA, but it's between the two rather than below GA, so a review would need to determine whether it was still of GA quality - so perhaps WP:GAR would be the place to go, or else bring it up on the Underground project. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 03:21, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Infobox italics

      Resolved

      At Lafayette Square, Buffalo, I am unable to italicize the name of the monument in the caption.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 23:11, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Does that work? Corvus cornixtalk 23:17, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      The whole caption is italicized by {{Infobox park}}. Your italics were battling with those from the infobox. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:23, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Is it possible to just italicize the name of the monument?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 23:24, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Yes, with caption= Soldiers and Sailors'' monument at Lafayette Square''&nbsp; The italics added by the infobox then changes the caption to ''Soldiers and Sailors'' monument at Lafayette Square''&nbsp;''. I wrote &nbsp; to italicize a space and avoid four consecutive '''' which don't work right. There is probably a way to do it without the space. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:39, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      You can completely override the infobox's own formatting and add your own simply by using ' ''' ''Soldiers and Sailors Monument'' at Lafayette Square''' ' in the caption parameter, or whatever else you want in there. Someguy1221 (talk) 23:42, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Good to know.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 23:54, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      The official contents of a music page

      I have recently come into contact with a musician who's band has a wikipedia page. However he feels the contents of the page is unjust (e.g. The biography of his band) and wish to replace it with his official biography, however everytime he edits the contents, it is changed back to the inaccurate contents with in a short period of time, therefore He wants to request for a protection from spamming. How may I be able to request this feature? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Spawn1224 (talkcontribs) 23:50, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Well, in general you can request page protection at WP:RFP, but it is not a good idea. For one thing, protection would not be granted under the circumstances you describe. And if it were granted, it is as likely as not that it would be protected with the content that he objects to; so he would be unable to change it. —teb728 t c 00:56, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      I would point him in the direction of a few core policies and guidelines:
      • WP:NPOV - Articles must be written to a neutral point of view, neither promoting nor disparaging their subject.
      • WP:COI - When someone has a conflict of interest relating to the subject of an article, they are advised to avoid editing it directly, instead suggesting changes on the article's talk page.
      • WP:V - Article content should be verifiable, with references to reliable, third-party sources. If he was making sweeping changes to article content, particularly with unsourced material, it is not surprising he was reverted.
      • WP:ES - Explaining one's actions in edit summaries is recommended, especially when making drastic changes. Edit summaries should not be a replacement for proper talk page discussion, however.
      • WP:BLP - Articles that are biographies of living people (and this, including his own information, is kind of in the same category) will be watched even more closely than other articles for violations of NPOV and V.
      • WP:PROT - Articles are only protected in the event of serious vandalism or edit warring, but only in cases where sanctions against individual editors are unlikely to prove effective.
      Keeping those in mind, if he has some good references for the material he is trying to include, then he can bring it up on the article's talk page, and uninvolved editors can incorporate it into the article and deal with any concerns about unreferenced material as well. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 03:18, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      April 1

      password

      3/31/08 Please forgive; but signed in as socialpeacest; could you please send password to <email address removed for privacy>

      Thank You —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.85.27.166 (talk) 00:18, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Unfortunately, if you did not provide an email address when you created the account, there is no way we can send the password to you. - 'Milks 'F'avorite 'Cookie 00:20, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      At login I have sent a new password to the email address registered by User:Socialpeacest. I cannot see the address, I cannot send a pasword to another address, and I don't have access to the old or new password which both work now. See also Help:Logging in. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:37, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Firefox addins

      For my wikipedia research it would be really convenient if I could add the Time magazine and Newsweek search engines to my dropdown. Can anyone create fire fox plug ins for me?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 00:27, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Please go to the Reference desk here and ask there. Calvin 1998 (t-c) 00:47, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Show button

      On my own user page, I have reformatted all my honors to be hidden. Is there a way to move the show button so it is not under the infoboxes on the right?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 00:40, 1 April 2008 (UTC)][reply]

      See Wikipedia:Collapsible tables and WP:NAVFRAME. Calvin 1998 (t-c) 00:45, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Unified login system

      Some time ago I asked here when would the Unified login system be available to the "regular users", someone told me it was on April the 1st, 2008, is this true? where is information about that date?
      I haven't found no references to the date of general availability... thanks in advance. SF007 (talk) 00:57, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      There's still some bugs to take care of before it can be enabled fully. AzaToth 00:59, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      When I saw that, I suspected it was a pre-emptive April Fools' Joke. I'm still waiting for Google's usual surprise. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 03:09, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Template help

      I'm trying to make a template work: User:Jeff Dahl/Pharaoh Infobox. I want to make a hidden section with a [show] reveal under Royal titulary down to the gray bar. How do I do this? Jeff Dahl (Talkcontribs) 01:24, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      I think I figured out how to make it work, but apparently the parent infobox's table settings aren't available in the hidden section. Jeff Dahl (Talkcontribs) 04:17, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Advice on Possible Goalline Blitz Article

      Greetings,

      I am a subscriber of Goalline Blitz, a new MMORPG game based around American football. I understand that several people have tried to create an article to capitalize on the site's referral policy. I would like to create an informative (i.e. non-advertisement) article about the site, it's creators, and the game itself. My article would list only the URL for the main site with no referral url. Is there a way this can be done? I will adhere to any guidelines you set. Also is there a way to prevent people from editing the page in order to insert their own referral link, as people will surely attempt to do this to exploit the article. Believe me, I do not want this any more than you do. Please let me know. My email address is email address removed. I am a Ph.D. student at FSU and the article would be well-written, well-researched, and as unbiased as I can make it. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

      Thomas Paterniti —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tpaterniti (talkcontribs) 02:16, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      I have removed your email address as this is a high-profile page and you might find yourself added to spam mailing lists. To your actual query, the main guideline that would apply is WP:WEB. Basically, articles need to demonstrate notability through references to reliable third-party sources. A quick Google search on Goalline blintz gives me the web site itself and a whole host of bulletin board posts which have presumably been created for the purpose of referrals, and as a result I suspect there are few, if any, reliable references (has it been the subject of an article in a major e-zine, perhaps?). However, assuming that the article could be created, then to avoid referral URLs being inserted you could make a request at the Wikipedia:Spam blacklist, stating the general form of the URL. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 03:08, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      top reference sites list?

      Does Wikipedia maintain a current list of top reference sites like this (obsolete) one?: http://www.online-utility.org/wikipedia/top_reference_websites_wikipedia.jsp Thanks in advance. Jan 82.208.2.214 (talk) 08:31, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Admissible photos of actors?

      I'm wondering what qualifies as an admissible photo of an actor. Presumably, if I took a photo of the actor in the flesh with my own camera, that would be admissible. Anything else?

      If I took a photo of an actor appearing on television in mid-performance, is the photo my property because I took it, or is it the property of the company that owns the television performance?

      I've looked around in the FAQ and help desk but failed to find clear advice on exactly what photos are admissible. If I missed something, I apologize. Torve (talk) 09:52, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      The general rule is that any living actor can easily have a free-use photo taken by someone, so no fair-use sources are allowed. That means no screen caps of movies/shows they're on, no photos from magazines, etc. -- Kesh (talk) 12:13, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Thanks for the reply. So there seem to be three admissible ways in which a photo can get into Wikipedia: the actor puts it there himself, the photographer puts it there, or either of them puts it somewhere else on the Web and explicitly declares that it's for free use. Does that cover the possibilities? Torve (talk) 13:50, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      How Can i edit and add one information in Wikipedia? (repeat question)

      I would like to share one link with a good information provide by you but i am not able to edit it. It was deleted by Wiki Staff daily. one External link is all ready add with that link please help me out I am providing the links where i supposed to edit by George D. Watson

      This is the link where i wish to add link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_centre under Additional reading section.

      1. http://www.callcentersindia.com/call_center_forum.php 2. http://www.callcentersindia.com/call_centers_news.php

      Pushkar —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.174.5.2 (talk) 10:28, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      You don't. Our rules on external links are very specific, and forums almost never qualify for addition. -- Kesh (talk) 12:15, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      I also see you already asked this question and were answered yesterday. No need to ask again. -- Kesh (talk) 12:16, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Language and log-in question

      I speak both english and spanish. I joined in the english speaking Wikipedia and I´ve just discovered I can´t ´log-in´ in the spanish version with the same account. Is there any way I can have one account for both languages or I have to create another account for spanish? Thanks! I just joined Wikipedia, I´m sorry if this has been already asked two thousand times. Zetakah (talk) 10:54, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Unified login is in the test phase right now and may become usable soon. Presently it is only enabled for administrators. For the present you need to make a separate account on all other language Wikipedias as well as other Wikimedia projects.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 11:59, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      How to "strike out", "strike through" or "rule through"?

      Hi, I dont know what its called but I've seen comments on talk pages with a line ruled through the middle of the characters indicating that the editor no longer held that position. How do I do this? What is the correct name for it? Thanks SmithBlue (talk) 10:55, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Place <s> ... </s> around the text. The icon str above the edit box does it. See this and many other things at Wikipedia:How to edit a page. It's called different things. I don't know if there is a "correct" name for it. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:09, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      page display of List of RAF stations

      I've just noticed that List of RAF stations is not displaying correctly. I have checked the revision history for possible vandalism, or inadvertant edits, but I can't find anything wrong.

      When you view the article, the display ends after section 2.7.16 - which is France former stations. No categories, stubs or navigational boxes are displayed either. However, when you click on "edit this page" at the top of the article, all the "missing" text is still there. OK, the entire article may be 31 kilobytes long, but I've seen other far larger articles still displayed in full.

      Any comments? Thanks - -- Teutonic Tamer 11:41, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      I fixed it by this edit [13]. A ref tag hadn't been closed properly - it had <ref> instead of </ref> at the end of the reference. DuncanHill (talk) 11:52, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Any time you see that problem it is a missing /ref. Probably worth a FAQ. Sbowers3 (talk) 11:58, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Phew . . . many thanks, guys. Agreed about the FAQ. -- Teutonic Tamer 12:01, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Wikipedia:FAQ/Editing#The end of an article doesn't appear, although it's there in the edit screen. What happened? PrimeHunter (talk) 14:19, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Can't see Edits

      Hi, sorry to take your time, but I'm a relatively new editor and I wanted to ask a an admin how come the edits I make don't appear unless I'm logged in. If I visit wikipedia just as a normal viewer, without loggin in, the edits I've made to pages, say, the previous day, don't seem to have been registered, even on the edit history page. Any idea why? Thanks loads.Thedarkfourth (talk) 16:20, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      Admin

      If I feel I am being unfairly treated by Admin, is there a page that can help me end this? Many Thanks, ::Manors:: talk to me 16:25, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

      WP:AN should be a reasonable place. Stwalkerstertalk ] 16:31, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      Cheers!