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Contents 1 May 24 1.1 Templates in their own auto-categories 1.2 Transwiki bot? 1.3 Disambiguation page needed 1.4 Odd reference formatting 1.5 Photos of dead people 1.6 Patrol 1.7 Unblock rules 1.8 Arb Com Unblocking 1.9 Merge discussions 1.10 New user - problems re-finding articles 1.11 Requesting Attention 1.12 Characters 1.13 Tucurinca contributions 1.14 Prevent nosy onlookers from knowing your username 1.15 Getting the Admins Attention 1.16 Flickr 1.17 Rosemary 1.18 Font Face 1.19 Java Script 2 May 25 2.1 Google help 2.2 Lone years and months 2.3 Lightweight wikipedia entry page (search box only) 2.4 Licensing question for uploading images 2.5 Really big references 2.6 Image 2.7 Gyro Calideo 2.8 Delete 2.9 Delete... Proper 2.10 Hidden Category? 3 May 26 3.1 Starting a translation of an existing article 3.2 Verifying Content 3.3 Merger/unmerger at Piha 3.4 Status of a requested translation - again 3.5 Infobox background colour 3.6 Image Copyright Question 3.7 model and methodology 3.8 Exporting file of User contributions 3.9 Get added to Wikipedia.com 3.10 Userpage help? 3.11 IRC vs Windows Live 3.12 Mental help 3.13 Wiki-audiofiles 3.14 Silesian language code 3.15 Edit wars between IP address users 3.16 SVG rendering 3.17 unlinking two accounts with same IP address 3.18 Not sure what to call a new article 3.19 Online or Offline 4 May 27 4.1 what was the name... 4.2 What happened? 4.3 Deletion of pages to save server space 4.4 commerce 4.5 Help! 4.5.1 RtoL 4.6 Page width 4.7 Merge 4.8 Infobox Spacecraft question 4.9 Mexican University article (Faculty of engineering) 4.10 |colspan="2" align="center"| showing up when image is added to Template:Infobox Organization 4.11 Image Copyright 4.12 Editing Ancestors Templates 4.13 Finding a class Wiki Page 4.14 Tools not working 4.15 reference 4.16 Unified Login 4.17 How do I.... 4.18 Reassignment of IPA edits 4.19 Non English sources 4.20 How do I find a romanization? 4.21 Need Answer For Project 4.22 Uploaded an image 4.23 Table problem 5 May 28 5.1 Ken Gorab

[edit] May 24

[edit] Templates in their own auto-categories

Recently, a lot of auto-categorizing templates I've been working on seem to be deliberately categorized in the very categories they use, even when this ultimately doesn't make any sense given the template. For example, a redirect template might itself be categorized as a redirect. I'm quite convinced this isn't an error, because the same categories are printed twice, inside both the noinclude and the includeonly. Adding to my confusion, they are often given the sort key {{PAGENAME}}, which seems to be a redundant thing to do -- isn't that automatically the sort key of every single categorization?

So, um, can anyone enlighten me here? What, if anything, am I missing about templates and categories? Lenoxus " * " 00:47, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

You asked two questions, and somewhat tricky ones at that, so check my answers carefully:

• The {{R from abbreviation}} template does not seem to categorize itself the way you describe above, judging from the template code. What templates are you talking about? I looked at Category:Redirects from abbreviation and saw that it contains links to some redirects to templates (the actual templates are not in the category):
  • Template:R from alt name (a redirect to: {{R from alternative name}})
  • Template:R from abb (a redirect to: {{R from abbreviation}})
• With respect to the sort key question, that causes the template's entry on the category page to sort by the portion of the template's name to the right of the colon character. Without the {{PAGENAME}} magic word, every template would sort under the letter T, because of the Template: namespace prefix. See: Help:Category#Non-main namespaces.

--Teratornis (talk) 04:17, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for answering -- yes, that sounds right for the second one! As to the first, here's an example that's popped up: Template:R comics naming convention. I'm pretty sure there are others; in fact, I believe there were others, but I changed them in my haste, but since I've now seen so many of them, I'm wondering if there's some sort of convention I didn't know about, or if it somehow helps the maintainers of those categories. Lenoxus " * " 18:20, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Oh, here's a more prominent (and probably older) example I just found: {{R from other capitalisation}}, which is currently in the categories Redirects from other capitalisations and Unprintworthy redirects. I asked about it on the talkpage there, too, so answers should maybe come any day now... Lenoxus " * " 18:33, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Automatic categorising templates should be carefully and propely using <includeonly> and <noinclude> tags. For example:

<includeonly>
.
.
Stuff the template is doing for the page it is included into
.
.               <!--

Categorise the page the template is included into
-->[[Category:Some automatic category for the page this template is placed into|possibly sort ordered]]</includeonly><!--
--><noinclude><!-- 

Categorise the template
-->[[Category:Automatic categorising templates|{{PAGENAME}}]]</noinclude>

That a category link is inside both <includeonly> and <noinclude> tags seems wrong to me.

Peet Ern (talk) 05:09, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, Pee…t. One thing I just noticed is that in most cases, the sort of categorization I'm talking about involes using a space for a sort key, so that the template appears at the top of its own category. While this is definitely useful in some respects, the same basic service is performed simply by linking to the template in the category's description. As it is, it seems more or less inaccurate sorting. So until someone provides a good explanation for it, I'm going to keep removing such categories and placing templates strictly in template categories, or categories to which the template otherwise officially belongs. Lenoxus " * " 01:36, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Transwiki bot?

Does anybody know why the automatic transwiki to wiktionary doesn't seem to be happening? I tagged this article with {{dict}} at 0:31 on May 21st, and when nothing had happened by 11:36 May 23rd switched over to {{Copy to Wiktionary}} just in case the first template I used was the problem. Since it's still here, I had a peak at Category:Copy to Wiktionary and see articles there that have been tagged since early May. If I've done something wrong, I'd be grateful for advice on how to fix it, and I'll go see what I can do for that backlog. :) --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 02:00, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

I have no idea, but I looked on Template talk:Copy to Wiktionary#Two bot-killers... which seems to suggest that User:Connel MacKenzie might have something to do with it. I would be surprised if I'm telling you anything you didn't already know. I've never used this bot, but your question was looking lonely there with no answer, and I figured even a stupid answer is better than no answer. --Teratornis (talk) 04:28, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

I persist in technical cluelessness, so any answer you could provide is better than what I could do myself. :) Alas, Connel hasn't edited in a while, and I don't do IRC. Maybe I can figure out how to transwiki to Wiktionary manually. --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 17:25, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Disambiguation page needed

Would some kindly editor please create a disambiguation page for the term "Silver Comet"? There is an existing article by that name, which is about a roller coaster, and now an article I just created a few minutes ago about the former passenger train; I titled it "Silver Comet (train)."

There's also a "Silver Comet Trail" which might or might not need to be included on the disambig page, too.

This editor would be mighty appreciative of the help. I've been working about 10 hours today creating good content, and though I could probably figure out the disambig process eventually, my brain is fried and it's time for some grub. Thanks in advance.  :-) Textorus (talk) 02:55, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Done! Since it didn't seem like either article was an obvious primary topic, I moved the rollercoaster article to Silver Comet (rollercoaster), and created the disambiguation page, linking to all three articles, at Silver Comet. -- Natalya 03:03, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

I was creating it, but Natalya was ahead of me.--RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 03:09, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks much, y'all, I really appreciate it. I wish somebody would rewrite the directions for creating disambig pages; the process is not at all clear to me.  :-) Textorus (talk) 18:22, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Odd reference formatting

Cass Lake, Minnesota has some odd references, using coding that I've never seen before, and the references to the odd coding at the top don't display properly on the article itself. What is up with the coding, and what can be done about it? Nyttend (talk) 04:41, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

That coding is the {{cite web}} coding. Nothing really needs to be done really. It's no harm.--RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 04:52, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Nyttend wasn't, I think, referring to the use of {{cite web}} but to the old and long deprecated {{ref num}} method of footnoting. I have converted those present in the article to the Cite.php, <ref></ref> format. Nyttend, if you come across this again you might find User:Cyde/Ref converter useful. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 08:23, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Photos of dead people

Since Carol Willis is deceased, can we use the image found here for her article? Dismas|^(talk) 05:09, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Copyright only expires when the work was published before 1923, and is not affected by the subject's death – see Wikipedia:Image use policy#Public domain. The image copyright is therefore still owned by Playboy, but if you sized down the image then it would probably work under a claim of non-free use. You'll have to have a better look at the site's copyright policy, though. haz (talk) 06:23, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

I didn't say it would be public domain just because the subject of the image is dead. Thank you for assuming that I can understand the copyright policies. If it's wrapped in red tape, I don't get it. That's why I came here. Dismas|^(talk) 06:37, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

It's a bit of a delay since you asked the question, but I assume you're wondering whether the photo can be used as fair use now that the subject is dead. I think the answer is "sorta kinda maybe yesno a bit but not really". Since the main sticking point of fair use photos of living people is the possibility of a free alternative being made available, it's generally considered best to wait a while after the person's death to see if anyone comes forward with one ... or something. Is there anyone who may have photographed her recently who may be willing to freely license a photo? Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 23:35, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Patrol

How do you mark an article as patrolled? Interactive Fiction Expert/Talk to me 09:16, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Hi IntfictExpert. Marking pages as patrolled can only be done when you approach the article from new pages. Another words, if you serendipitously typed into the search bar an article that was just created and clicked go, that article you land on will have no link to mark it as patrolled, whereas, going to that same page from new pages will give you the option to mark it as patrolled. All pages at new pages which are highlighted in yellow have not been marked as patrolled. The actual process of marking a page is to click on the link which looks like this: [Mark this page as patrolled], which appears on the bottom right hand corner of a new page. For more information, see Wikipedia:New pages patrol/patrolled pages. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 09:28, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Also remember you can't mark as patrolled pages which you have created yourself. Fribbler (talk) 12:41, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Note that when patrolling article, you have to see if they need any tags, cleanup, etc. The whole point of patrolling articles is to make sure they have no problems. If they do, add a tag or fix it yourself. --RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 16:03, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Unblock rules

Several months ago, I was wrongly accused of being a sock of a banned user and blocked. (I think the admin was just trying to win a content dispute) A few weeks later, another administrator reviewed what happened and correctly concluded that I was not a sock and unblocked me.

If the first administrator finds out, he will certainly block me again. In essence, he is trying to censor an article. I have looked over my edits and they are not POV. I did ask a former arbitrator and he said ArbCom will almost never look into this situation.

I have not edited since the unblock. I created this user just to ask the question and prevent stalking. I don't intend to use it to edit. Carinsuranceismandatory (talk) 16:18, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

So, what's your question? Do you mind clarifying a little? -- RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 16:23, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Question is 2 possibilities: #1: Can we conclude that if I am really the sock of the banned user, the banned user is no longer community banned because I have been unblocked? If so, then re-blocking can only be done for disruption or POV pushing, not by pointing out made up similarities.

Or #2: Since the first administrator (wrongly) stated that I am a sock of a banned user, there is no recourse - I can be blocked on sight for no reason when the first administrator finds out that I am editing again after being unblocked. Again, a former ArbCom member said ArbCom is too busy and will almost certainly ignore any requests for help. How to prevent this except by accepting the first administrator's original purpose, to censor any opinions in an article other than his own (he even objects to neutral wording that has reliable sources). Carinsuranceismandatory (talk) 16:31, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Q1 has made me slightly suspicious, and no - we cannot conclude that. If an administrator has reviewed and accepted an unblock request, another administrator should not reblock without good reason (in this case, most likely a CheckUser...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 16:38, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

So are you saying that #2 is what is likely to happen? That the original administrator can re-block on whim? I need to know because I refuse to help Wikipedia if too many Wikipedia representative (administrators) are bullies. Carinsuranceismandatory (talk) 16:43, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Side note: What needs to happen is that all adminstrators should have a 6 month term followed by 6 months of editing. Many admins stop editing and some of them become bullies. Carinsuranceismandatory (talk) 16:46, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

To refocus the question----Creating a new user and ending use of my current account is not a solution. The checkuser will rightly conclude that "new user" and "current account" is the same person (even if one stops editing and the other starts). Using the current account is not a solution because the old admin will find out the unblock and reblock. The only solution to avoid re-block is to accept that the first admin has effectively become a censor for a group of articles. Is this true? Carinsuranceismandatory (talk) 16:49, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

No. You cannot be reblocked at whim, only when a request for checkuser is accepted and the result is that you are a sockpuppet. This is unlikely to happen unless you bear a striking resemblance to the alleged puppetmaster...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 17:02, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for your answer even though it does not really answer the question. You say that you cannot be reblocked at whim. This is not a true statement. The original admin has the opinion "anyone who does not agree with my POV is banned". So any editing in the article results in the admin saying that there is resemblance and blocks. This admin has blocked others without a RFCU request. Carinsuranceismandatory (talk) 17:09, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

But once you have been unblocked, (s)he cannot reblock without a RFCU, so the first time was OK but they cannot reblock...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 17:17, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps the single most important phrase on Help:CheckUser is the caution that CheckUser is not magic wiki pixie dust. A completed Checkuser is not required to block (or unblock) a putative sockpuppet; Checkuser evidence is seldom unambiguous, and the Checkusers themselves – talented though they are – are not infallible. By far the most important evidence of sockpuppetry is behavioural. (See duck test.) TenOfAllTrades(talk) 02:58, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Arb Com Unblocking

OK. I have editied with sockpuppets. I contacted Jimmy Wales, and the volunteer contacted Arb Com. They gave me this reply:

<email message removed>

The User SimpsonsFan08's talk page is currently protected, so how can I get unblocked now (since I got a second change).

Also, can I merge accounts: SimpsonsFan08, SimsFan, Doughnuts...Mmm!.

Can I get an admin to unblock me today? Thanks, 92.5.91.181 (talk) 17:06, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

OK, I'll file a WP:RFPP (unprotection) and hopefully an admin will get there. Then, you can use the {{unblock}} template to request unblocking. If an administrator comes along, they can do it straight away but I'll do this as I'm not an administrator...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 17:15, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Doing... RFPP filed, pending. You can then use {{unblock}}. And in response to your earlier query: No, accounts cannot be merged...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 17:22, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

RFPP Nfailed. If you are telling the truth, either Jimbo or Arbcom could quite easily unblock you and unprotect your talk page...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 22:44, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Merge discussions

What are the policies/guidelines/etc. that cover merge discussions, which occur on the Talk page of one of the affected articles? In particular, I am interested in the proper procedure for closing a merge discussion. I've read Help:Merging and moving pages#Closing/archive a proposed merger (vague), as well as Wikipedia:Consensus, Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines, and Template:Discussion top, but I have not found anything directly helpful.

For XfDs, the closing editor must be uninvolved and may be a non-admin when admin tools are not required to implement the decision. Some merges may require history merges, while others can be done with cut-and-paste. Should an uninvolved editor be requested at WP:EAR, WP:AN, or elsewhere, or should the merge tags and their associated categories be relied on to attract this uninvolved editor?

Is it ever acceptable for an involved editor to close a merge discussion as no consensus following an extended period (1-2 months) with no new discussion, or does this involved closing always constitute a conflict of interest, as it would in the WP:Deletion process? If it may be acceptable, what constitutes a reasonable "extended period"? Flatscan (talk) 17:44, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Mergers are generally done by someone who has an interest in the topic. Deletion requires distance, but mergers require knowledge of the subject in some manner to have an idea of what needs to be kept. -mattbuck (Talk) 17:55, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the reply. I guess I'll cross-post my question once this is archived. Flatscan (talk) 19:42, 25 May 2008 (UTC)?

I believe the question is not who actually carries out the merger but who determines whether or not there is a consensus when there is no unanimity? I believe that it's been the practice in the past to request on WP:AN that an uninvolved admin determine consensus when it is unclear. Reggie Perrin (talk) 04:07, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] New user - problems re-finding articles

Hi, I'm a new user and can't work out if there's any way to add a 'bookmark' to an article so hat I can easily find it again in the future without saving it as a favourite using my browser. MonkeyMark (talk) 17:55, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

If you don't want to save it as a bookmark in your browser, you could link to it on your userpage, but if you do, anyone in the world can see it... Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 18:00, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

It's not really what it's for, but you could add it to your watchlist. That's more private, if you care about that. Algebraist 18:01, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

(ec)You can watch list the article so you can always see whats happening on that article. You can than "edit raw watchlist" to see what's watchlisted.--RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 18:03, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

(e/c) :Hi MonkeyMark. There is no internal bookmark feature per se, but you do have a watchlist which when you access will show whenever a change is made to a page you have watched. It is a link at the very top of the page whenever you are on Wikipedia and logged in. Right next to that link is another called "My contributions", which will show you your editing history. You also have a user page which you have not yet accessed. It is at User:MonkeyMark. That link is currently red because you have not yet posted any content there. Once you do it will turn blue. You can post there links to any page you want to access again (thus making a form of bookmark). To make a link to an article, simply type the exact name and surround it with brackets, like [[this]]. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 18:10, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Requesting Attention

Very Recently, a WP:RFPP was submitted for User talk:SimpsonsFan08. How can I get a attention as, for the start, there was edit conflicts in the discussion, where now, there hasn't been an edit for 10 minutes. 92.5.91.181 (talk) 18:05, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Just because it hasn't been discussed for 8 minutes doesn't mean it won't continue. Just be patient. Page protection requests can take a long time to just a few minutes.--RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 18:07, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Characters

How can I get Greek characters in my signature? Will I have to use HTML or something or is there a way to get table like is under the edit window that has greek characters? Thank you, Zrs 12 (talk) 18:19, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

You can copy-paste the Greek characters from the table under edit windows into the "signature" section in your preferences. That should work. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 18:22, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Tucurinca contributions

How can I deleted all my contributions and my account? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tucurinca (talk • contribs) 18:57, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

You can't delete your own contributions unless an admin deleted the page you edited. Your edits on that deleted article will also delete your contributions to it. Hope that helps. --RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 19:04, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

While your account cannot be physically deleted, you do have the right to vanish, which is "about as good as it gets" when it comes to deletion. x42bn6 Talk Mess 19:16, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Due to the fact that Wikipedia content is licensed under the GFDL, all edits must be kept for attribution purposes, and so your account cannot be deleted. You do, however, have the right to vanish, which you can exercise by (1) requesting your user page (found at Special:Mypage) and/or user talk page (found at Special:Mytalk) be deleted, by adding the {{db-userreq}} template to them; (2) requesting to change your username to something that is unconnected with you (possibly a random collection of letters and numbers); (3) never logging in to your account again. If you do this, you are still free to register a new username if you wish to continue editing Wikipedia. Woody (talk) 19:22, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Prevent nosy onlookers from knowing your username

When logged into Wikipedia your username appears at the top right hand corner of the screen. Is there a way to obscure the username from being displayed, to prevent nosy onlookers from knowing what it is. I was thinking along the lines of something similar to the way the UTCLiveClock works? Any suggestions? Thanks. 79.75.137.77 (talk) 19:10, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

My answer to your first question: As far as I know, you can't remove it. Also, do you mind clarifying when you said, "to prevent nosy onlookers from knowing what it is" Thanks. --RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 19:13, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

You'd probably have to write something to your Special:Mypage/monobook.js file. The busybodies are probably, say, if you're in a library and people are looking over your shoulder. x42bn6 Talk Mess 19:15, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for clarifying. Well, I don't think there's a script that let's you remove it either. --RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 19:16, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Actually, the interface makes this easy. Try adding this to Special:Mypage/monobook.css:

 #pt-userpage { display: none; }

x42bn6 Talk Mess 19:20, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

I'll clarify that you have to be logged in to add it to your monobook. You can't be an IP while doing this. --RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 19:22, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks x42bn6 and RyRy5, I'll try it out. I still want Talk, Preferences and Watchlist to show, but the actual username to say something like "Logged in" or "My page", rather than telling the world who I am. 86.157.9.253 (talk) 19:23, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

I didn't realize I'd been logged out. Sorry about that. 86.157.9.253 (talk) 19:24, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

If you don't get a response here, you can try at WP:VPT because it's probably a technical issue. For that, you'd need to write something in JavaScript. The one above hides the username. x42bn6 Talk Mess 19:26, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

The above code doesn't work. 86.157.9.253 (talk) 19:29, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

This should work in your monobook.js:

addOnloadHook(function(){document.getElementById('pt-userpage').firstChild.innerHTML='My page';});

-- zzuuzz ^(talk) 19:30, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Shit, I logged out again. Something is seriously screwed with my cookies. Thanks zzuuzz, I've give that a try, if I can stay logged in that is~ 86.157.9.253 (talk) 19:31, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Getting the Admins Attention

Hi. I said above about Requesting Admin Attention. There is a request for unprotection at WP:RFPP, for User talk:SimpsonsFan08. However, no one has responsed to this. How can I get an admins attention for this matter. There has been requests added and solved, in the time I have been waiting. 92.5.91.181 (talk) 20:22, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Ask at WP:AN.--RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 20:23, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Apparently it is waiting for a reply from Jimbo or ArbCom, a thread on AN isn't going to help anything. Mr.Z-man 20:31, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

I suggest other than WP:AN, that you just wait. --RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 20:40, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Flickr

Can you upload images posted in flickr 86.40.201.129 (talk) 21:12, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

It depends if the image has a suitable license. Read through Wikipedia:Upload/Flickr and see what the different licenses are, and use the tool provided to determine whether it's appropriate. Generally, most images are copyrighted "all rights reserved" by the uploader, usually because they're unfamiliar with the licenses. If the license is not compatible, you can contact the uploader and ask him/her to change the license. Usually they'll allow for it, but images without the appropriate free license will be speedily deleted. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 21:16, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Hello. You can upload flickr images which are licenced as CC-BY or CC-BY-SA, though it's preferable you upload them to the Wikimedia Commons. Images which are all rights reserved, or are either ND or NC are not allowed. -mattbuck (Talk) 21:53, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Also, it is important to know that a user account is required to upload any image. To upload an image, click "Upload file" in the toolbox on the left hand side of your screen. Also, as the other guys said, it's important to determine whether or not the image as the correct licence for use on Wikipedia. I hope that helps. GO-PCHS-NJROTC (talk) 23:41, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Rosemary

How long can rosemary tea be ingested. I have been boiling dried rosemary "bark" for 8 days. Now I am reading that it could be toxic. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.249.44.181 (talk) 22:22, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

The help desk is used for questions on USING wikipedia. Your question seems unrelated to wikipedia. Please ask at the Wikipedia:Reference desk. Thank you. RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 22:29, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

We cannot offer medical advice. Please see the medical disclaimer. Contact your General Practitioner. This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Wikipedia: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. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps....... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 22:42, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

The reference desk also will not give medical advice. Useight (talk) 00:03, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

You're right, I should really have put the templates the other way round...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 09:33, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Font Face

How can I change the font face of my signature? For example, what if I wanted to change my signature from Arial (default) to Comic Sans MS? Nick4404 yada yada yada What have I done? 22:44, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

I can personally do that for you. It wll be done in just a minute or two.--RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 22:45, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

<font face="Comic Sans MS">REST OF SIG</font>...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 22:48, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, just checkmark the "raw signature" box in Special:Preferences, they put the following in the above box:

[[User:Nick4404|<font color="navy" face="Comic Sans MS">Nick4404</font>]] <sup>[[User talk:Nick4404|<font color="navy" face="Comic Sans MS">yada yada yada</font>]]</sup>

--RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 22:52, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

That makes: Nick4404 ^{yada yada yada}...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 22:55, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Java Script

Is it possible to use a Java Script on a user page or user talk page? GO-PCHS-NJROTC (talk) 23:36, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes, but it won't take affect. It will only work in your monobook.--RyRy5 (talk) 00:36, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Like RyRy5 said, you can use Java Script on a user page or user talk page, but unfortunately, it won't have any effect. You need to place such JavaScripts at your monobook.. Cheers, Razorflame 00:59, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] May 25

[edit] Google help

I'm trying to compile a list of articles for Playboy Playmates which have gone through the WP:AFD process. I haven't been able to find the magic formula of keywords using Google which will produce a set of useful results. Can anyone lend a hand with their Google skills? Or maybe there is some sort of tool that look through the AFD logs, if logs exist? Thanks, Dismas|^(talk) 04:36, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia is excluding pages at Articles for deletion from search engines like Google with our robots.txt at http://en.wikipedia.org/robots.txt which contains

Disallow: /wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/

An internal search like [1] can find some of them. PrimeHunter (talk) 07:34, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the tip about robots.txt; I will have to add a note about that to the {{Google custom}} documentation. To Dismas, you may need to learn about Wikipedia's query tools; see WP:EIW#Query. I need to learn about those tools too, so I can perform and explain these types of searches that exceed what we can do with Google. --Teratornis (talk) 17:58, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Lone years and months

I've gone through the MOS but I can't find a section that I've read before. Where is the policy on whether or not to link lone months and years in the text of an article? Thanks, Dismas|^(talk) 04:55, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

WP:MOSDATE is the policy.--RyRy5 (talk) 05:02, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

MOS:SYL to be precise. dihydrogen monoxide (H₂O) 05:13, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, both of you. I went through that page but must have missed that paragraph that spells it out. Dismas|^(talk) 05:21, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Lightweight wikipedia entry page (search box only)

Hi. Is there a Wikipedia entry page with only a search box that can load quickly on a mobile device that has (near-)zero caching, like the iPhone? An always and quickly accessible Wikipedia on mobile devices seems like one of the most powerful tools there can be, but over a non-WiFi (e.g. Edge) connection one wastes a lot of time waiting for content, formatting and especially images to appear. Both en.wikipedia.org and wikipedia.org entry pages have graphics on them. Thank you. 91.13.221.29 (talk) 05:57, 25 May 2008 (UTC) Greg

I found this off the internet. Hope it helps. Singularity 06:54, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you, that utility is kind of neat; I'd also found some offline apps. But that portal is still not as lightweight as it could be and still requires a redirect; plus it's unofficial, which means it could go away or break . Maybe I should split the question: (a) is there such a simple page already at some official Wikipedia URL? (workarounds are nice, and I could maybe even create one myself, but the need for a "lightweight entry" to Wikipedia seems more universal, so...) (b) if not, where could one request such a feature to be an "official" entry to Wikipedia (this is probably not the appropriate place for a deeper discussion of merits etc.)? In fact, I looked around quite a bit before posting here because once I started looking it seemed so odd that something like that (so simple to do, probably quite universally useful) would NOT already be available. 91.13.218.38 (talk) 08:45, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Have you found WP:WAP access yet? Algebraist 09:29, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you, that page contained a like to a really fast online mapping service at wikipedia.7val.com, which seems to provide a good solution. It would still be nice to have an "official" Wikipedia page do it, but for me the question is for now resolved. 91.13.220.104 (talk) 06:06, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

You could create your own user subpage with:

<inputbox>
type=search
width=42
buttonlabel=Go
searchbuttonlabel=Search
break=no
</inputbox>

Which gives:

--—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 12:46, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

See WP:EIW#Mobile for some additional links relating to your question. Someday, we can expect Moore's law to improve the capacity of mobile computing devices so that more of them should be able to carry around a recent Wikipedia snapshot, perhaps in a reduced format such as TomeRaider. Eventually mobile devices might maintain local mirrors of Wikipedia, thereby greatly conserving bandwidth by downloading only article revision diffs to synchronize articles, perhaps while a device sits in its charging station. The charging cycle could include both power and the latest data from whatever sites the customer likes to carry around as local mirrors. --Teratornis (talk) 17:34, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you also, the user page trick is neat. But again, an official lightweight splash page would be nice. Your observations on Moore's law and transfer of diffs only are obviously also correct. And yet: content does tend to catch up with bandwidth (what would Wikipedia have looked like in the mid-80s?). Diffs are always smart; but maybe a general-purpose caching system (not just for Wikipedia) would be better; not sure you always have to carry all of Wikipedia around. We'll see what happens soon enough. :-) 91.13.220.104 (talk) 06:06, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Licensing question for uploading images

I'm trying to upload an image onto wikipedia, it's under Public Domain according to the terms of use on the website. None of the licensing options on the upload page allow me to select an option like this, instead assuming that all Public Domains images are government related or made before 1923. How can I choose the option I want?

(The image is this: [2] The terms of usage is here: [3])

Any and all help will be appreciated. Thanks, Erythromycin (talk) 06:02, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

I don’t know what to make of their terms of use. On the one hand it says, “All graphics on this site are placed into the Public Domain” On the other hand it says, “You may NOT use any component of our clipart or site content to produce what could be directly or indirectly considered a competitive venture against us.” This restriction contradicts the PD release and seems incompatible with free use. If it is PD, the tag would be {{PD-author|FreeClipartNow.com}}. —teb728 t c 07:31, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Alright, thank you. I uploaded it at Image:Rhinosimus.jpg —Preceding unsigned comment added by Erythromycin (talk • contribs) 13:11, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Really big references

One of the references that I'm using to build the MSM blood donor controversy article is a 133 MB pdf. I try to use in-line citations, but it's probably poor form to have someone click the link and get stuck waiting for the document. I have it now as an external link, but is there a better way to do this?Somedumbyankee (talk) 08:33, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Why not put the link with (133MB) next to it? Just an idea...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 09:16, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

(The OP's done that) I don't see anything wrong with the current situation. It's still a lot more accessible than a reference to a book in meatspace. Algebraist 09:21, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

True. Seems OK to me. My laptop would have no problem handling that (but my Grandma's dialup desktop - unmodified since 2000 would crash). Having the filesize should stop people with dodgy connections or old machines from opening it...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 09:26, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

I believe you want {{PDFlink}}. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 12:32, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Another option is to make two separate references, one to the PDF file itself (which you can warn the user about with, I believe, "|format=PDF (133 MB)" in the appropriate citation template, i.e., use one of the templates which has the format parameter, such as {{Cite web}}), and the second reference to a smaller HTML page that links to the PDF file. Most sites I have seen that contain big PDF files also have some sort of HTML page acting as an entry point to the PDFs. I.e., the sites themselves are not all PDF (that would be possible, since PDF supports linking, but that would be an ugly way to build a site, maybe even worse than using Flash for basic navigation). Google Search solves this problem, when a search result is a PDF document, by displaying a link to an HTML-ified version of the document. When I'm searching the Web, I usually click on the HTML link before the corresponding PDF link, because even though the HTML version looks worse, it loads far faster, and remains consistent in the browser. Loading a PDF is slow, and annoying because all the PDF readers have different user interfaces than the browser. It is obvious that PDF is a temporary kludge simply to shove all the print-format data online as quickly as possible. For real online publishing, PDF is clearly inferior to HTML, wikitext, and other things actually designed for online use. As the world gradually outgrows its belief that dead tree editions are the primary instantiation of information, fewer chunks of information should be hiding only inside PDF files. --Teratornis (talk) 17:53, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

{{cite web |url=http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/06/transcripts/2006-4206t1.pdf |format=133MB |title=Meeting of Blood Products Advisory Committee |date=2006-03-09 |publisher=Food and Drug Administration |pages=53 |accessdate=2008-05-25}}

Meeting of Blood Products Advisory Committee (133MB) 53. Food and Drug Administration (2006-03-09). Retrieved on 2008-05-25.

--—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 18:21, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Got it, thanks for all the help.Somedumbyankee (talk) 21:34, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

I like to hyperlink the publisher's name where possible: Food and Drug Administration. You can put that into the {{cite web}} template with: |publisher=[[Food and Drug Administration]]. --Teratornis (talk) 05:47, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Image

I am not in the autoconfirmed group, but is there any other way I can upload images (copyrighted, so can't go on commons)? DalekChicken (talk) 09:13, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

No, not until you're autoconfirmed I'm afraid...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 09:15, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Gyro Calideo

Hi, im a new user and the reason i joined was to allow me to write a page for my band Gyro Calideo. I figured out how to make a new page and i began to write the short yet true history of my band.

once i had done all of this i decided i would save the page. however once i did this i got a message about speedy deletion. so i deleted it but i am not really understanding why? its my band and me and my friend are the only ones who know anything about the band so why have i been asked to delete something i "own" as it were? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Britpop-mod (talk • contribs) 14:56, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Ah, okay. First thing is not to be disheartened by deletion; it just means that it's been deleted because it doesn't satisfy Wikipedia's inclusion guidelines. For bands, they are found here. Unfortunately unless your band meets the notability guideline (found in the blue "here" link), then the article will be deleted. Wikipedia isn't a place for anything and everything; there are rules, and there have to be, or even I can have an article! :) If you still don't understand, ping me on my talk page and we'll discuss it. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 15:08, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

See WP:WWMPD and in particular the section If all else fails, try another wiki. Wikipedia is not the only wiki you may edit on, and for many types of content Wikipedia is not appropriate. See wikiindex:Category:Music for other wikis that specialize in music; some of them may accept an article about your nascent band project. --Teratornis (talk) 17:24, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Delete

Can an admin delete the contents at User:SimsFan/monobook.js. I cannot log in because of the wikibreak enforcer. Please don't say 'wait for your wikibreak to end'. I need to request unblocking, as Jimbo has given me a second chance. 92.5.91.181 (talk) 15:42, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

It would be better to request at WP:AN. More admins are watching that page and will delete it quickly, if decided though.RyRy5 (talk) 15:46, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

I'll do it. The monobook is of an indef blocked user so there is no problem. PeterSymonds (talk) 15:47, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Y Done as in removed the contents. I'm not going to delete the page. PeterSymonds (talk) 15:49, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Delete... Proper

Can you actually delete the page. 92.5.91.181 (talk) 15:55, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Someone beat me to it. It's done now. PeterSymonds (talk) 16:03, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hidden Category?

The article Henry Harrison (MP) is categorised as belonging to the Irish regiments category. He is clearly not a regiment :-) but when I tried to edit the article, the category was nowhere to be found. How is that? Fribbler (talk) 17:56, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

It's part of the template above. I don't however see the Category:Irish regiments at the bottom of the page. PeterSymonds (talk) 18:00, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Oh yeah, got it. PeterSymonds (talk) 18:00, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure how to selectively remove categories, so I've copied and pasted the template's source code without the category. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 18:03, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks! Fribbler (talk) 18:04, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

No probs. :) PeterSymonds (talk) 18:09, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

I removed the category from the template. It makes no sense to put a template that includes regiments from Ireland, Britain and South Africa into that category. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 18:38, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

(exdent) Thought that too...it contains people and events as well as regiments. Thanks all! Fribbler (talk) 23:33, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] May 26

[edit] Starting a translation of an existing article

Hi - I'm keen to provide a Japanese translation for an existing article in English, but I'm not sure how to get started. Should I just start a new page and then somehow merge them, or is there a specific way to do translations? I'm sorry to ask - I would swear its in the FAQ, but searches on "translate" and the like don't bring it up, and its not a topic in "editing pages" or the like. Losersaystim (talk) 00:42, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[4] That is the link to the Japanese Wikipedia. The English Wikipedia does not host articles that are not in some type of English (I.e. British English, American English, New Zealand English, etc). Out of curiousity, which article would you like to translate? « Gonzo fan2007 (talk ♦ contribs) @ 00:46, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I want to translate the short article about Dan Piraro and his Bizarro comics. They're just starting to get a market in Japan so I thought it would be helpful for people who wondered who he was (well, Japanese people). If it works I'd be keen to do more.

So, I should just start a new page in the Japanese wikipedia and then somehow link it over?Losersaystim (talk) 00:56, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Yep, just create the page on the Japanese Wikipedia under the proper Japanese translation. Then when you finish the article on the Japanese Wikipedia, add [[ja:JAPANESE TITLE]] to the bottom of the English article, replacing JAPANESE TITLE with the Japanese title of the page. « Gonzo fan2007 (talk ♦ contribs) @ 01:00, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Gotcha. Cheers mate!Losersaystim (talk) 01:11, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Verifying Content

A note has been left at the top of the page stating that the content, much of which I have added, needs to be verified by a third party. I have read about the verification process but am unable to make an entry that looks right. My first and second attempts at making an in-article link to third party internet site has failed. Please give me the code, or whatever you call it, that I need to type in order to make a satisfactory third party reference? I am somewhat technically challenged, so please Keep It Simple for me.

I can't imagine that this question has not been asked before, but I cannot find where it has been asked and did not understand how to do it from what I read about the process.

Thx ... Dan —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.112.121.58 (talk) 01:05, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Right. First, Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box which looks like this: . Do NOT sign in articles. The code for referencing is <ref>Reference goes here, preferably with an external link, which is like [URL what you want to show up].</ref> The "Third party" part simply means the reference must be to a 3rd-party source (un-affiliated with the subject). Hope this helps! Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 01:12, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

For instructions on making proper citations, see: WP:V, WP:CITE, WP:FOOT, WP:CITET, and WP:LAYOUT. Also see Help:Edit summary for some additional important instructions you don't seem to be following yet. You should study some of our featured articles about music to see where you want the Roy Head article to go. (Most people find it easier to learn by studying examples along with reading the friendly manuals, rather than just reading the instructions and then trying to put it all together by editing an article from scratch.) --Teratornis (talk) 04:51, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Also, you'll want to take a look over at WP:COI since you acknowledge your close relationship to the article. Tiggerjay (talk) 05:02, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I have formatted the two links in the article to use our standard referencing format as an example for future references. You can see exactly what I did by viewing this diff. I hope that will help you.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 05:16, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I feel like adding a general lament about the difficulty of doing citations on Wikipedia. Citations are one of the most complex and unintuitive aspects of Wikipedia for many new users. Citations (at the moment) are both difficult and important, making them one of the reasons why such a small fraction of articles on Wikipedia have attained featured quality. It seems unlikely that Wikipedia will achieve its goal of bringing every article up to featured quality, within the next decade anyway, as long as citations remain so difficult to do properly that only a tiny fraction of Wikipedia users have mastered the necessary incantations. It might be necessary for Wikipedia to make proper citations simple enough even for casual users to do correctly, but to do that would probably require vertically integrating a comprehensive library of sources directly into Wikipedia, on something like the scale that Google is attempting (with Google Books, Google Scholar, and so on). Or, possibly, Google will do the heavy lifting, and Wikipedia can build off it. I've been thinking about citations a lot lately, because several of the articles I have been working on (Peak oil, Oil price increases since 2003, Panicum virgatum, etc.) get a lot of edits from users who understand the articles' subjects, but haven't slogged through and mastered our WP:FOOT and WP:CITET pages. Thus I am cleaning up other people's broken citations, and that is heavy going. It seems we have much room for improvement with citation technology on Wikipedia, since the current system needs a perhaps unrealistically high percentage of Wikipedia editors who have committed the necessary hours to learn how to do citations the hard way. I've tried some citation tools such as Zotero and Google Scholar enhanced with the Wikipedia citation assistant, but these tools are very hit and miss - they work well when they work, but often they don't work as in they don't find or recognize a given reference, from which to generate a citation. The underlying problem is that source material has no standard format, so there is always some source that defies automation with a given tool. --Teratornis (talk) 05:27, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I agree very strongly. The problem is figuring out how to make them easier or more intuitive. That is why I added the references here. Most people are much better at working from an example, and I've seen many times users who figure out the basics except for that they must add {{Reflist}} so they are tearing their hair out trying to get the references to work without the code.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 05:50, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, your comment describes a problem very similar to the energy-related articles I mentioned. Since energy problems are in the news now, some of these articles are attracting lots of edits. And just as with the Adrienne Shelly article, the presence of existing properly-cited references does not seem to clue up new editors who just add their new references any which way. Of course, when I was brand new at editing on Wikipedia, editors with more experience had to clean up my first fumbling attempts. The difficulty I had when trying to understand why they revised my work motivated me to add links to my edit summaries whenever possible. It stands to reason, when we edit someone else's noncompliant work, they probably have never heard of whatever policy or guideline we are following, so it helps to add an easily clickable link to the edit summary, such as: "added citation template per WP:FOOT" or something. I remember having to figure out how to interpret unlinked shortcut abbreviations from edit summaries, and I vowed never to subject another editor to such rudeness (it can be prodigiously difficult for a new user to figure out what an unlinked shortcut abbreviation could possibly mean, because the new user hasn't yet learned all the tricks of how to search for things like that on Wikipedia). I've also added section-specific shortcuts to things like the Editor's index to make it easier for myself and others to provide clickable links to them. --Teratornis (talk) 06:17, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I think I might try my hand at working up an annotated example of how to do standard <ref></ref> citing in a template, for here and elsewhere. Regarding shortcuts, I rarely use them for new users. I try to spell out the page and link it.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 06:34, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I'd be interested to see what others think of the refTools gadget you can now enable in My Preferences/Gadgets, which adds Ref and Cite buttons to the edit toolbar. For me it's been a good way of producing better quality citations quickly, even though it is a bit clunkier than some of the external tools I used before. It's particularly handy for repeat citations of named references in the same article, which is done all kinds of ways here and leads to no end of snarlups in complex articles when done manually. I'd recommend it as a real boon to new users learning the art of properly formatted citations - it's not perfect but it's handy, easy to use and a good confidence builder. -- Karenjc 21:49, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Merger/unmerger at Piha

I'm a little embarrassed coming here after years of working on WP, but this one has me stumped. I recently took part in an AfD - Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Piha Surf Life Saving Club. The article, as initially nominated, was 600 bytes in length and gave no evidence of notability other than that the club was featured in a television series. As such, quite rightly, the first few comments were to merge the article into the equally small article on the series.

I became aware of the AfD towards the end of its nomination period, and - realising that this was a pioneering and former national champion club - started to enlarge the article to show its notability. Unfortunately, before I had a chance to contact the earlier commenters to indicate the changes to the article and ask whether they are willing to reconsider their comments, the AfD was closed and the article was merged.

What this means is that there is now severely unbalanced article on a television series which has 600 bytes on the programme followed by nearly 3 kilobytes on the club involved - a club which should, by rights and by notability, have its own article. Ideally, I'd like to "unmerge" it, but realise that by doing so I'm going against the decision of the AfD. As such, I'm at a loss, other than perhaps to ask here for some third-party, uninvolved editors to see whether they think a stand-alone article on the club is now worthwhile. Grutness...wha? 01:18, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I closed it. I've replied on your talk page. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 02:00, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Status of a requested translation - again

I asked this on May 22 but got not answer - so tryign again:

How long does one normally have to wait to get a response to a translation request, in this case Wikipedia:Translation/Evidence ?

Or, did I not set the request up correctly ?

If there is no one to do it, should I just get the request speedy deleted ?

Peet Ern (talk) 05:19, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I recall trying to look up the answer to your question when you previously asked, and it stumped me. I looked at a few of the other translations and it was somewhat difficult to determine the actual amount of time that they required. The pages that listed milestones did not give dates for completion of the individual milestones. So I looked at a few article histories, but that was not enough to establish a "normal" time requirement. In general, Wikipedia has terrifyingly huge backlogs in many places where editors ask other editors to do things (see: WP:CLEANUP). We seem to have a lot more askers than doers. Anyway, to get an idea how long a translation "normally" takes, you would probably have to ask some people who are active in that area, who would have enough experience to give a meaningful estimate. It seems none of them are answering questions on the Help desk just now. --Teratornis (talk) 05:41, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I should add that if it was my request, I would just leave it out there until someone does it, or someone else decides to get rid of it. A request that hangs out there unfilled probably isn't hurting anything. You had to do some work to make the request, so why throw your work away? When I was new on Wikipedia, I requested the GPSBabel article, and I think it took several months before someone made the article. I don't know whether the person who started the article was even aware of my request. On Wikipedia there is no deadline. The only reliable way to speed things up is often to do them yourself. --Teratornis (talk) 06:02, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Suggestion: you can try asking people using this list - Category:Wikipedians_by_language. Worked for me when I needed a short translation from Turkish. Jaakobou^{Chalk Talk} 09:56, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Infobox background colour

What is the default background colour #xxxxxx for the class="Infobox" ? Peet Ern (talk) 05:21, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

For general information about colors, see: Web colors and Wikipedia:Colours. For specific information on how Wikipedia defines its class values, see MediaWiki:Common.css which contains this excerpt:

/* Infobox template style */
.infobox {
    border: 1px solid #aaa;
    background-color: #f9f9f9;
    color: black;
    margin: 0.5em 0 0.5em 1em;
    padding: 0.2em;
    float: right;
    clear: right;

which might be what you're looking for. --Teratornis (talk) 05:34, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks Teratornis. I had found the first two. The WikiMedia stuff was exactly what I needed. Peet Ern (talk) 05:50, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for letting us know the answer was what you needed. I was thinking I might have sounded sarcastic by "which might be what you're looking for." Actually I was not 100% certain this was what you needed, since on Wikipedia there are so many gotchas and exceptions that things aren't always as obvious as they might seem. There is always one more thing I haven't heard of which overrides what I thought I knew. And then shortly after I learn about that one more thing, somebody goes and changes it. --Teratornis (talk) 05:57, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

You are welcome (and I meant MediaWiki - it's hard sometimes - your right). Peet Ern (talk) 07:32, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Image Copyright Question

If I were to go to McDonalds one day, and order a Big n' Tasty, and take a picture of it to use on Wikipedia, is the image I took my own image that could be used on Wikipedia or is it the property of McDonalds? I admit images and copyright are a little over my head, but I can always learn. :) <3 Tinkleheimer TALK!! 07:08, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

PS:Another Minor Problem. Help Desk isn't showing up on my watchlist, even though I watch it? Any suggestions to why it isn't? Thanks :) <3 Tinkleheimer TALK!! 07:17, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Of the sandwich? Yes that can't fall under copyright (see the picture on the Whopper article). I certainly foresee no lawsuits over a picture of a sandwich, so that should be fine. Also, with the watchlist, try purging the cache of the watchlist. It should show up instantly so it's odd that it doesn't. PeterSymonds (talk) 08:38, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Ooohhh, this is interesting. What about the packaging? If you take a photo of a copyrighted item, do you own copyright to the entire photo? --saxsux (talk) 14:27, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

No, like the WikiWorld part of the Signpost, if you include a copyrighted logo or something you don't own that portion of the picture. weburiedoursecretsinthegarden 20:54, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

As for the watchlist: Visit the 'watchlist' tap in your preferences and change the number in the box to 250. That sorts most watchlist problems!

As for the picture: It's fine. An image of a burger in a bag bearing a logo would be in violation of copyright...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 20:48, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] model and methodology

<content blanked>

Sorry, but this is for asking questions about how to use Wikipedia only. I've moved this to the reference desk for humanities. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 08:33, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Exporting file of User contributions

I want to export my User contributions, including my edit summaries, so I can play with the data. Is this possible? -- Alan Liefting (talk) - 08:02, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

You can export a file using the API. You can export it as an XML file which can be used in MS Excel. [5] will give you your last 500 edits. You can see more info on constructing API queries here and on the API documentation page (list=usercontribs). The most that non-bots or non-admins can get is 500. If you want all your contribs, send me an email and I can send you the files from queries of 5000. You can also get it in other data formats depending on what you plan to do with it. Mr.Z-man 08:31, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm not a good person in this subject. However, I don't think you will be able to import. I can't say this will work but try Special:Export and type in Special:Contributions/Alan Liefting . You could check out the ref desk. Hope this Helps. SimpsonsFan08 ^{talk Sign Here Please and get Award} 08:38, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Get added to Wikipedia.com

Done by other users

How can I get background about my website added to Wikipedia.com?

Thanks,

<Personal info removed> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.180.107.191 (talk) 10:14, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, you can create an account and then post it on your user page. If so, then just don't advertise so much about it. Do you want to make an account?--RyRy5 (talk) 10:19, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I would recommend not to do that, even on a user page, it can be speedy deleted as spam. See user page policy for guidance in what can be written on a user page. A link to your website on a user page is acceptable, but excessive promotional material is prohibited. It is also recommended that you do not write articles about yourself or any group you are involved with; see our guidelines on conflict of interest. EJF (talk) 11:19, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

See also Wikipedia:FAQ/Business. Much of it also applies to your website, even if it should be non-commercial. Wikipedia is non-commercial and Wikipedia.com redirects to wikipedia.org. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:22, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm resolving this now. Plus, this website is en.wikipedia.org . SimpsonsFan08 ^{talk Sign Here Please and get Award} 11:50, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

You can add an entry about your site to AboutUs.org, and if it's a company site, you can add an entry to Wikicompany. --Teratornis (talk) 16:44, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I'd think people would be more interested in getting their site into wikipedia.org, the popular reference site that is in the top ten Alexa rankings, rather than into wikipedia.com, a domain name that merely redirects to the .org site. *Dan T.* (talk) 16:49, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Userpage help?

Can someone help me with my userpage? :/ I cant get my userboxes to align center [6]. Please, I'd appreciate help here ;) Mellie 11:13, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Is that the sort of thing you were after? Or did you want the centre of the page? PeterSymonds (talk) 11:17, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, I'd like it centered here, and possibly without the heading. Sorry, but im a bit of a newbie with this stuff :/ Mellie 11:24, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

WBOSITG (talk · contribs) has fixed it for you. :) PeterSymonds (talk) 11:27, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I did indeed, hope that's what you wanted. weburiedoursecretsinthegarden 12:03, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Hello User:Mellie. Your problem is solved so I'm resolving this post. Thank you. --RyRy5 (talk) 11:39, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] IRC vs Windows Live

I know there are many Wikipedia IRC channels. However, I don't really know what IRC is. If I was to set up a Wikipedia Windows Live account (like en-wikipediahotmail.co.uk), give it out to people who need help, and volunteers could be given password to answer on Windows Live Messenger, would I have to obtain Wikimedia permission or can I just go and do it? SimpsonsFan08 ^{talk Sign Here Please and get Award} 14:16, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

It wouldn't work. Firstly, there's nothing stopping people from changing the password the moment they sign in, destroying the system. Secondly, I don't think Windows Live lets users log in in different places with the same username, so chatting within one username (which I think is what you're suggesting) wouldn't work. There are lots of IRC clients to choose from; the one I use is built into Opera and it's very user-friendly. Daniel (‽) 15:23, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

One of the key benefits of an IRC channel is that multiple people can use it, whereas you can only have one person logged in to an WLM account; IRC is intended more for many-to-many chat, while WLM is more one-to-one. I think there's a bit of an ethical side to it too; IRC is an open system, whereas WLM is closed, proprietary and operated by a convicted monopolist. This is just what I think, though - I might be wrong... --saxsux (talk) 15:28, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

IRC is more fun anyway. It's multiplayer notepad! -mattbuck (Talk) 15:29, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Mental help

I need mental halp —Preceding unsigned comment added by RandyMandy (talk • contribs) 16:40, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

"Mental help" can mean lots of things, since mental activity is very broad. If you mean psychiatric help, see: Wikipedia:Medical disclaimer. If you mean you need help with trying to understand a problem you are having with Wikipedia, then please give more details. --Teratornis (talk) 16:50, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Your brief but checkered contributions history suggests your question is not serious. I suggest that you should learn to take Wikipedia seriously, because we can expect the supply of liquid fuels for transportation to grow increasingly scarce over the next decade or two, and knowing how to contribute to collaborative sites like Wikipedia will be increasingly advantageous as the traditional method of moving information by dragging bodies around becomes steadily less viable. --Teratornis (talk) 17:01, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Wiki-audiofiles

Godday! > > I have problem with wikis-audiofiles. I have tried to locate where to download > and get it downloaded, but just cant get it right. Iam kind of jerk with > computers. Can you help me ex mail the files necessary to me? I have a Compaq > and the media player RealPlayer. Thanks for your time and help. > >

> Best regards Stefan —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.65.77.51 (talk) 16:59, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia is a do it yourself system, perhaps the largest one in the world, and therefore to use Wikipedia, one has to read and follow instructions. The instructions you need are all under this link: WP:EIW#Media. Unfortunately, our instructions are not understandable to everyone - the instructions have to assume a certain amount of technical background. If you are unable to follow the instructions in these pages:

• Wikipedia:Media
• Wikipedia:Media help
• Wikipedia:Media help (MIDI)
• Wikipedia:Media help (Ogg)

then you may need to meet someone in your locality who understands that information and can help you directly. It is very difficult for us to give you detailed help from far away because we cannot see your computer. You can meet other Wikipedia users in your area by reading:

• Wikipedia:Meetup
• Category:Wikipedians by location

When you are very new to all of this, it can help a lot if you meet some more-experienced users in person. Only after you have gained enough knowledge of computers can you take full advantage of our written instructions and become more self-sufficient. --Teratornis (talk) 17:11, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Silesian language code

Someone tried to add the Silesian language version of English language. The article exists, but the language code was not recognized. How does the language code get added? —teb728 t c 18:17, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

There is no Silesian Wikipedia. See List of Wikipedias. Are you sure it's a Wikimedia project? Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 18:27, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

According to its main page it is a Wikimedia project. Maybe it is brand new. —teb728 t c 18:42, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

The main page's history shows it appeared on the 31st of march. Fribbler (talk) 18:52, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Hmm. I'll take it up with Meta; maybe they can do something. PeterSymonds (talk) 18:54, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Here's the thread. PeterSymonds (talk) 18:59, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

It is working now. —teb728 t c 02:46, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Edit wars between IP address users

The article Cashmere is currently undergoing an edit war between two IP address users, who are being very nasty to each other on their respective talk pages. Actually, they are edit warring on multiple pages, I think, though I haven't investigated thoroughly. What is the protocol here? Loggie (talk) 18:58, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I've warned them about Cashmere. If they break the three-revert rule within 24 hours, then they can be blocked for 24 hours. If you notice a violation, notify me directly or go to Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/3RR where you can report a violation. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 19:05, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] SVG rendering

I'm having a problem getting arrowheads to render properly. All the lines on the bottom of the page have arrowheads on the original artwork. The ones on the bottom left are a straight copy and paste from the top diagram. None of them are visible to me once uploaded to Wikipedia. I thought I saw a post here once saying there was an image rendering help page but I cannot find it, so sorry in advance for posting on the wrong page. SpinningSpark 19:47, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

It appears that the problems are when the image is scaled down in size. When it is viewed in full size, the arrows appear properly. This would seem to be a computer related problem, not necessarily a wiki problem. Tiggerjay (talk) 21:02, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I see no arrows, either when scaled or not when the image is on wiki. If I download it and view it in the editor then it is ok. How are you viewing it full size? by going the image page or what? SpinningSpark 21:13, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Just to be clear, I can always see the arrows on the top diagram. But if I copy an arrow, then I can no longer see it (when uploaded). The scale has no effect on this either way. SpinningSpark 21:21, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Click on the image when viewing it on the page page. Tiggerjay (talk) 21:23, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Doing that takes me to the image page. I see no arrows on any of the lines in the bottom half. Do you? SpinningSpark 22:12, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Hmm, yes they do, at the end of each of the lower lines, sounds like a rendering problem on your system. Tiggerjay (talk) 00:47, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

In that case I don't get why I cannot see them when in thumbnail view. I understood that the wiki server converted to PNG for thumbnails, so there should be no way my browser can distinguish between arrow pixels and any other pixels. SpinningSpark 06:32, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Just to be sure, can you please try to view this image and let me know if it shows up correctly for you. Tiggerjay (talk) 16:33, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] unlinking two accounts with same IP address

My first account used my real name (I know, stupid idea), and I created a new account so that my Wiki profile would be more anonymous. However, I noticed that when I click on "Contributions" for my new account name, it also lists the contributions made by my original user name, since the listing is for contributions by both the IP address or the user name.

I realize that I can't erase the contribution history of my original user name. But is there any way to change it or something, so that clicking on my new user name won't bring up the history of every contribution made from this IP address? —Preceding unsigned comment added by KelvinCelsius (talk • contribs) 19:58, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Due to the fact that Wikipedia content is licensed under the GFDL, all edits must be kept for attribution purposes, and so your account cannot be deleted. You do, however, have the right to vanish, which you can exercise by (1) requesting your user page (found at Special:Mypage) and/or user talk page (found at Special:Mytalk) be deleted, by adding the {{db-userreq}} template to them; (2) requesting to change your username to something that is unconnected with you (possibly a random collection of letters and numbers); (3) never logging in to your account again. If you do this, you are still free to register a new username if you wish to continue editing Wikipedia. I think this is resolved after my post on your talkpage. Woody (talk) 20:13, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Kelvin, I'm not sure what you're talking about because your current contribution history only shows your edits as KelvinCelsius. There is no direct linking taking place. Which is what I believe you are concerned about. Edits to other articles, however, will retain a permanent record of edits by all editors, however there is no intrinsic link between various editors. Tiggerjay (talk) 20:59, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Did you create a new account, or request a user name change? If you changed username, then all your old contributions will still show up under the new name. If you want a clean break from your previous account, you have to log out and create a completely new account. — The Hand That Feeds You:^Bite 21:13, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Not sure what to call a new article

I want to start a new article about Stefan Eriksson's Enzo Ferrari crash on Feb 26 2006 on California's Pacific Coast Highway. There's a section about it in the Eriksson article, but I think this event is notable enough to have its own article. yahoo search results and [7], [8] 2 detailed news articles.

Does anyone have any good ideas for an article title? Matthewedwards (talk · contribs · count · email) 21:13, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Stefan Eriksson car accident? PeterSymonds (talk) 21:14, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I think there is a split guideline somewhere. And remember, BE BOLD. If it gets deleted, It gets deleted. I recommend 2008 Eriksson Crash or something like thatSimpsonsFan08 ^{talk Sign Here Please and get Award} 21:19, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

The guideline that refers to splitting articles is: Wikipedia:Summary style. It and related pages are under WP:EIW#Long in the Editor's index. --Teratornis (talk) 06:17, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Seriously? Is there actually enough material for a separate article to include the material that isn't covered sufficiently thoroughly in Stefan Eriksson#Car crash and Stefan Eriksson#Police investigation? Really? Remember, Wikipedia is not a tabloid. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 21:23, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I've worked with Matthew a few times. If he says there is, I'm inclined to believe. :) PeterSymonds (talk) 21:56, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Online or Offline

Some users have something at the top of their user page that says whether or not they're online Wikipedia. How do I get this on mine? Limetolime ^{talk to me • look what I did!} 23:48, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Have a look at user:statusBot ! It has instructions for signing up and displaying your online/offline status. Fribbler (talk) 23:52, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

There are a few different kinds of status indicaters. Here are a few examples: User:RyRy5/Status (mine), User:Basketball110/Status, and User talk:VanTucky (which is automatic updated by a bot). If you want any of those, ask them on their talk page. --RyRy5 (talk) 03:56, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] May 27

[edit] what was the name...

What was the name of the business operating on Wikipedia a few years ago? I believe it would charge a fee in exchange for writing a Wikipedia article on something, usually your business, but it was shut down by Jimbo. The Signpost wrote an article about it, but I can't find it... Thanks! Dar-Ape 01:11, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

You mean mywikibiz? Franamax (talk) 01:16, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Aha! Thank you. Dar-Ape 01:20, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

For future reference, you can search the Wikipedia Signpost with Google. For example: search the Wikipedia Signpost for: shut down Wales finds the issue that mentions MyWikiBiz as the top result. The {{help desk searches}} template is a handy way to add this search and others to your user page. --Teratornis (talk) 02:51, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Just to be fair to Greg Kohs (and I could be completely wrong here), the deal was that MWB would write the article on a separate site then invite an en:wiki admin to move it into the wiki mainspace if it was acceptable. That may have been the original concept, or it may have been the result of a temporary negotiation with Jimbo - in any case, the whole idea was rejected. Anyone with better knowledge, feel free to correct me! Franamax (talk) 04:49, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] What happened?

See this page. I don't know, If I see it with my browser, it's just plain black with Wikipedia logo and the search form. I don't know but I just want to report this issue. passport90## (talk) 03:11, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

All fixed. :) But for some reason, it didn't let me type an edit summary.--RyRy5 (talk) 03:16, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

RyRy5 - I removed the div altogether, I think it was a very smart vandal that put it there... Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 03:19, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

I was going to remove the whole thing after also, but you beat me. This seems resolved. -- RyRy5 (talk) 03:22, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

A div could ruin the whole thing. What a vandal. Thanks for the fast reaction guys. passport90## (talk) 03:32, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Your welocme. An IP added that recently so good thing you caught it. Regards, RyRy5 (talk) 03:38, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Deletion of pages to save server space

Does deleting pages on Wikipedia really help save server space or improve server performance? I was asking since all pages that are deleted on Wikipedia are not really deleted but saved in history only accessible by admins and can be restored at any time. So what are the advantages of deleting pages that are not obviously vandalism?

Because we cannot keep pages on non-notable subjects, and server space is saved in the long run because people don't try to make articles that they know will get deleted. I am not an administrator, so I may be completely wrong, but that's how I understand it...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 07:49, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

(e/c)Dendodge is partly right. The pages are still there, just not accessible to most editors. Pages are deleted according to the deletion policy, and redundant pages are removed when there's no need for them. Deletion just helps keep the encyclopedia clean, and keeping them won't make much difference to the server space. PeterSymonds (talk) 07:52, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

A deleted page is still in Wikipedia's database, but it stops growing an edit history, since nobody can edit it. If you export some pages from Wikipedia, you will see that the page history is often much larger than the current revision of the page. Current revisions are like tips of icebergs in some cases. Extreme cases include pages like WP:SANDBOX and this Help desk page, which accumulate prodigious edit histories (click the "history" link atop this page and see how far back you can scroll - every single edit anyone has made to this page is in there). As far as worrying about disk space, we probably don't need to, at least for the time being; see: Moore's Law and Kryder's Law. There is a limit to how much disk space humans can waste if they only edit by hand. On the other hand, it would be possible for a bot program to waste some serious disk space, but only if it got out of control. --Teratornis (talk) 20:52, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Disk is cheap, and we should not consider current technical issues when we're deciding what's best for the project (except maybe occasionally in extreme circumstances.) As pointed out above, we delete things because we're trying to create and maintain a high quality neutral encyclopedia, not a random bulletin board on which anyone can write whatever they want. Friday (talk) 20:55, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

See WP:PERF. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 21:05, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] commerce

what are the 5 featuers of steel industry with points —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.182.74.107 (talk) 10:39, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

The help desk is used for questions related to USING wikipedia. Your question is non-wikipedia related. Please ask at the Wikipedia:Reference desk. Thank you. Regards, RyRy5 (talk) 10:42, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Help!

How to write texts that line up on the right of the page instead of the left?

                                                                                                                                   Like this.

Thanks, —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tyw7 (talk • contribs) 12:16, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] RtoL

• A) RtoL language: The {{rtl-para}} tag. Example: {{rtl-para|he|א) שלום!}},
• B) RtoL English: The <p align="right"> tag. Example: <p align="right">Wiki rocks!</p>,

The print outs:

A)

B)

Wiki rocks!

Cheers, Jaakobou^{Chalk Talk} 12:48, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Page width

Can someone fix Morrison County, Minnesota? The entire page text is shifted over, except for the infobox; I'm not sure, but I think it's the infobox doing something. However, I don't see anything odd (I edit lots of US county pages, so I see these infoboxes frequently) with the infobox or anything else on the page, so I don't know what to do. Nyttend (talk) 13:37, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Done. Hope this helps, Alex Muller 13:45, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Merge

I know there is Special:MergeAccount, but will that merge two accounts together (ON WP). SimpsonsFan08 ^{talk Sign Here Please and get Award} 14:15, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

You mean two accounts both on (say) the English Wikipedia? No, I'm pretty sure it's just for cross-language or -project merging. Olaf Davis | Talk 14:34, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Olaf's right, I'm afraid. You can't merge accounts to a single username for GFDL purposes...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 15:34, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Infobox Spacecraft question

I've been trying for some months to make corrections to Wikipedia where it links into the National Space Science Data Center's (NSSDC) Master Catalog (NMC) interface(s). I've been able to fix the bulk of them I've found, but there is something about the Infobox Spacecraft template(?) that causes an automatic link to the NMC to be generated when the title "NSSDC ID:" is used. Although I put into place on our system a forwarding mechanism for such cases, I'd like to alter the template so that it just points directly to the correct URL. However, I can't seem to find out where/how to access/change this template. If I can't access/change the template myself, I'd at least appreciate some assistance from someone who can so that I can reduce the number of unnecessary page forwardings that are taking place on our web server. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ebellii (talk • contribs) 16:39, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

The first thing a Help desk volunteer has to do, to understand your question, is to find an example of the changes you are talking about. I looked at your contributions, and this seems to be one of the edits you describe (your edit to the Luna 9 article). (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) That particular page isn't a very good example, because it does not transclude an infobox template; instead, it contains plain table markup. Perhaps a more efficient way to track down what you are talking about is to search Wikipedia's Template: namespace for: NSSDC ID. That finds two templates:

• {{Infobox Space telescope}}
• {{Infobox Lunar orbiter}}

For example, the template code in {{Infobox Lunar orbiter}} that you want to change seems to be:

| label9   = NSSDC ID
| data9    = {{#if: {{{NSSDC_ID<includeonly>|</includeonly>}}} |[http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc={{{NSSDC_ID}}} {{{NSSDC_ID}}}]}}

See Help:Template if you want to understand how that markup code works. However, it looks like the hard-coded URL is obvious, and you probably want to edit it into something else. If you can tell us exactly what you mean by "the correct URL" in your question, someone here can figure out what to do for both of those templates (assuming the two templates I listed above are all the templates which have this problem you describe). Judging from your edit to Luna 9, perhaps the correct URL needs to be something like this:

• http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=

You or someone else should also explain on the Template talk:Infobox Space telescope and Template talk:Infobox Lunar orbiter talk pages exactly what you (or someone editing on your behalf) are changing, and why. --Teratornis (talk) 20:23, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Tell me if I guessed correctly about the templates that you want to edit. Also check the backlinks for those templates:

• Special:Whatlinkshere/Template:Infobox Space telescope
• Special:Whatlinkshere/Template:Infobox Lunar orbiter

to see if the articles which transclude these templates are all the articles which have the problem you describe. Who knows, there could be more articles with a different version of this same problem that I did not find. And if none of this makes sense, let us know that too. --Teratornis (talk) 20:28, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Mexican University article (Faculty of engineering)

I have created 2 times the article about the faculty of engineering of the UNAM (Mexicna University) and it keep being deleted without any notice, I tried to put more sources, but it still was deleted the second time, I don't think it's fair, due that other American Universities do have articles on its departments and those are even smaller than the ones I have been creating. Please, I would like to know, what should I put in order for my page not to be deleted.

Thank you

User:Leonoel —Preceding comment was added at 17:02, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Please see Why was my page deleted? The most common reasons are:

• The subject was not notable enough to have their own article
• It was a test page
• It was vandalism

To find the specific reason a particular page was deleted:

1. Go to the Deletion Log
2. Type the page title in the case-sensitive search field
3. The date, time and reason for deletion will be displayed

There are three processes under which mainspace articles are deleted: 1) speedy deletion; 2) proposed deletion (prod) and 3) Articles for deletion (AfD). For more information, see Wikipedia:Why was my page deleted? To find out why the particular article you posted was deleted, go to the deletion log and type into the search field marked "title," the exact name of the article, mindful of the original capitalization, spelling and spacing. The deletion log entry will show when the article was deleted, by which administrator, and typically contain a deletion summary listing the reason for deletion. If you wish to contest this deletion, please contact the administrator first on his or her talk page and, depending on the circumstances, politely explain why you think the article should be restored, or why a copy should be provided to you so you can address the reason for deletion before reposting the article. If this is not fruitful, you have the option of listing the article at Wikipedia:Deletion review, but it will likely only be restored if the deletion was clearly improper. Hope this has helped. They're two separate templates, and they overlap, but they should explain things...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 17:23, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box which looks like this: . Do NOT sign in articles. Just for future reference...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 17:25, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

More specifically: According to the deletion log and messages on your talk page, your article was deleted because it did not indicate why the subject was notable enough to have an article on Wikipedia. —teb728 t c 22:01, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] |colspan="2" align="center"| showing up when image is added to Template:Infobox Organization

when an image field is added to Template:Infobox Organization, that colspan stuff is added. e.g. Community Emergency Response Team, International Atomic Energy Agency, Cult Awareness Network etc. How does one fix that? Thanks. --Rajah (talk) 17:39, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Someone just fixed {{Infobox Organization}}. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 17:42, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Image Copyright

Hi,
I am trying to upload an image for an article called LI-900 about tiles used on the Space Shuttles, and am completely confused about what copyright bar to put on. The image is owned by NASA, and it says here that all images except the NASA logo are allowed to be used for informational purposes. What should I put on it?

Thanks.

--Trulywelsh (talk) 15:04, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

The image Image:Phoenix landing.jpg is also owned by NASA - there are two licensing tags on that page that seem to be relevant, Template:PD-USGov-NASA and less specifically, Template:PD-USGov. I think the first one is more appropriate. -- Natalya 18:06, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Editing Ancestors Templates

How do you edit the Ancestors Templates? I hit the E botton to "edit". I get sent to an edit page but it is nothing like the Template.

Info: (If you don't know what templates I am talking about.) It is the templates that show the mother, father, grandparents, great grandparents etc.

Thanks!--Holtville (talk) 18:43, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Have you got a link? Basically the templates are in HTML/Wikimarkup, so what you see on the edit screen is very different to the finished result. I'll happily explain what to do if you tell me what you're wanting. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 18:45, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

I believe the template in question is {{Ancestors}}. Hotlville, you can provide a link to any page on Wikipedia you want by typing its name with brackets on either side. So, if the name of the template is, as I think, Template:Ancestors, you can make it a link by typing [[Template:Ancestors]], which results in: Template:Ancestors (the method I used at the beginning of this paragraph with curly braces is another way, only applicable to templates).--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 18:55, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you everyone, I understand!--Holtville (talk) 19:12, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

To understand how the {{Ancestors}} template works, you will need to read: Help:Template and Help:Table. Templates and tables are among the more confusing aspects of Wikipedia, so don't expect all of this to make sense on the first reading, unless your IQ is about 250 or higher. Mere mortals usually have to keep coming back to reread these instructions for several days, and try some test edits in the sandbox, before things start to make sense. Also read Help:Editing and keep the cheat sheet handy. You can add links to your user page, for example links to the help pages you are currently studying. You can access your user page from anywhere on Wikipedia by clicking your username link which should appear at the top of every page after you log in. Or you could bookmark (in your Web browser) the help pages you are currently studying. The important thing is to write some notes as you learn things, because there is far more to learn on Wikipedia than most people can juggle in their short term memory. Feel free to use your user page as a scratchpad as you learn here. --Teratornis (talk) 20:06, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Finding a class Wiki Page

My class has a page posted in Wikipedia but I cannot find it and I am supposed to add information to this page, how do I go about finding it. The class is call The Fifties, Fab and Fraught and it's not there. --Erdapr06 (talk) 18:54, 27 May 2008 (UTC)April Erdahl

It most likely has been deleted. Pages like that are not allowed on Wikipedia. We aren't a site for classes to uses. I suggest you tell your class to get thier own website. SimpsonsFan08 ^{talk Sign Here Please and get Award} 18:58, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

That's not exactly true. There are a bunch of class projects that utilize Wikipedia. Take a look at Wikipedia:WikiProject Murder Madness and Mayhem. The class developed three featured articles and eight good articles. So, a lot do take advantage of Wikipedia. Metros (talk) 19:16, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

You should probably double check with your teacher/professor about what exactly you should be looking for on here. I can't find anything in a quick few searches that suggests a page exists (or existed and was deleted). Metros (talk) 19:16, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

See WP:EIW#School and WP:EIW#Research for more information about using Wikipedia in schools. Also see User:Teratornis/Tips for teachers. --Teratornis (talk) 19:54, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Tools not working

Does anybody else have the issue of their monobook scripts not functioning? I thought it was because the tools I use are now covered by the gadgets on the preferences menu, but even activating those doesn't result in the tools working. FusionMix 19:14, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Relatively recently two of my java tools stopped working without any changes being made to my monobook. Yours and mine may both be the result of some type of change to the mediawiki software. This is pretty anecdotal though. I suspect that whatever it is, it has not affected a large swath of users because whenever that happens we get numerous duplicative posts here and other places, but your post is the only one I see, and that includes no recent posts at the technical section of the village pump, which always gets hammered when a sweeping change affects lots of people. You might want to post there some specifics about the problems you are experiencing. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 22:19, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Alright, thanks. FusionMix 23:17, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] reference

I am trying to create a new article. When I go to cite information in one of the sections using the <ref> SOURCE </ref> method, the sections below that reference are no longer being displayed. Do you know why that is? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Igcc-web-asst (talk • contribs) 19:49, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

At the bottom, you'll need to create a place to put the text {{reflist}}, preferably underneath a heading titled "References" or such. FusionMix 19:52, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

The disappearing sections problem usually results from failing to close your <ref ...> tag with a </ref>. See WP:FOOT for complete instructions. --Teratornis (talk) 19:57, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

The last ref tag was not closed, so it ate the rest of the article. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 20:03, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Unified Login

I just noticed on my preferences that I (a non-admin) can now use the global account/unified login? How new is this? Fribbler (talk) 20:13, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

'bout an hour old...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 20:14, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

If there is an updated document about this new feature, someone should add a link to it from the Editor's index, under: WP:EIW#SingleSignon, which currently links to pages that talk about implementing the feature someday. --Teratornis (talk) 20:40, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

This really wasn't announced very well. I put it on the Community Portal; that's probably the best way to get the word out. Paragon12321 (talk) 21:39, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How do I....

Hello.I just made a wikipedia acount.How come it won't let me create a page.Also, how do I edit my talk page

From Ichozo(I'll be here enough,you'll see) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ichozo (talk • contribs) 20:16, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Please see Your first article.

1. Ensure that you have an account and you are logged in. If you don't have an account, create one
2. Make sure the subject is notable enough to have their own article.
3. Find references
4. Make sure no article on the subject exists under a different title by typing the subject into the search box to the left (←) and clicking 'Search'
5. Type the page name in the search box to the left (←) and click 'Go'
6. Click 'Create this page'
7. Create the article, including all your references, making sure you adhere to the Manual of Style and our article layout guidelines
8. Be aware that Wikipedia deletes thousands of new articles for failing to adhere to our policies and guidelines. New articles by new users are at extra risk of deletion, due to new users' unfamiliarity with our rules. Consider gaining experience by editing existing articles before attempting to create new ones. Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box which looks like this: . Do NOT sign in articles....... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 20:19, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Reassignment of IPA edits

Is it possible to reassign credit for articles contributed from a particular IP address? I have been at times forgetful in signing in before I edit and my contributions default to the IP address of 24.10.19.137; all of the contributions there so far are mine, so is it possible to have them re-credited to my login account? Backspace (talk) 21:31, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

No, for GFDL purposes, I'm afraid...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 21:35, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Non English sources

Hi, I was wondering, is there an official policy on how to cite non-English sources? Should I translate the foreign titles in the ref list, leave them untranslated or show both the English and the foreign title? And if so, how? Someone suggested me to use square brackets, but I haven't seen any article using those. Help is very much appreciated. Baldrick90 (talk) 21:41, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Working examples are often the best teachers. Please see Lope de Barrientos (which I translated [shameless plug]) and Threshing-board. You can also explore many completed translations at Category:Wikipedia:Translation, though looking for more examples to provide to you there made me realize that apparently large portion of translations suffer from the same fate as many of our articles in that they fail to cite sources or do so minimally. Two general pages you might find useful are Wikipedia:Translation and Wikipedia:Translation/*/How-to, neither of which contain any text I see specifically addressing your question, but they're good for backgound.

I don't think there is any official policy on point. A few policies talk about the use of foreign language sources, mostly in the context of the preference for English language sources, whenever available, but don't address how to cite them. See, e.g., Wikipedia:Verifiability#Non-English sources. My take is that you need not translate the title of the source, and if you do, always show the original as the primary name. The source and its identifying information is listed to provide the reader the ability to check for themselves, and at least provide a putative claim that the material you are including is verified. Since the source is known by the foreign name, not by its translation, it should remain as it is in the original so that it can be most easily located.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:02, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How do I find a romanization?

I'm trying to look up a word in a Wikipedia article. Unfortunately, it's in Hindi, and the author doesn't seem to have used a standardized spelling. I have very little idea what the word means. I searched it online and found only copies of the Wikipedia text. I'm not sure how it's spelt in Hindi. I can effectively do an IPA/phonetic search when the name is given in the original language and in the IPA at the head of the article, but this is not useful if I don't know the pronunciation. Should I make it into a link and use ^{[disambiguation needed]}? Post to the article's Talk page? Find an expert? Do something else?

Are there standardized romanisation (or romanization) guidelines? A Template:Ambiguous romanization? Are there tags that can be used to tag a word as having been romanised (romanized) using a particular system? Are there tags to give its original standardized written form (if any) in the native writing system(s)? (like an Infobox, only per-word, not per-article) Are there any converters to automatically insert redirects for alternate romanisations? Alas, I cannot volunteer to create any of these right now :), but if they exist I'll use them to solve this problem.

HLHJ (talk) 22:04, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Another issue where the name of the article in question would be helpful. See:

• Wikipedia:Naming conventions
• Wikipedia:Naming conventions (use English)
• Wikipedia:Naming conflict

--—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 00:34, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Need Answer For Project

Who is the author or wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.138.115.179 (talk) 22:05, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia has no author per se. It is a collaboratively run encyclopedia with millions of signed up users (many thousands who are active), and can be edited by anyone without even signing up. The site itself is owned by the Wikimedia Foundation, which also runs a number of other free projects. Please see Wikipedia:introduction, Wikipedia:About, Wikipedia, and the Wikipedia:Tutorial. If you click on the history tab on the top of any page , there is a list of all contributors to the particular article. If you want to cite an article in a paper or elsewhere, go to the article and click on "Cite this page" from the very bottom link on the toolbox at the bottom left hand corner of the page. See Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia for further information. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 22:14, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Uploaded an image

I uploaded Image:DarienMethChurch.jpg. Then I realized that I needed to rotate it first, so I did that and uploaded it again. When the image is viewed in an article or in "full resolution", it looks OK. But on the main page of the article it has the old non-rotated version but stretched to fit the frame of the revised uploaded version. Is there a way to fix this? Bubba73 (talk), 23:02, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

I can only think of two possibilities: either the article page needs to have its cache purged, which I have just done, or you need to clear your cache. See Wikipedia:Bypass your cache for how to do this. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:12, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

I tried purging the cache, and it didn't help. It is wrong in both IE and Firefox too. Bubba73 (talk), 23:19, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, I tried reverting and reverting back, but that didn't fix it. I exited and restarted the browser, and now it is OK (although I had tried that before). Bubba73 (talk), 23:24, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, if it looks okay now then it was likely a display issue on your end. Glad it's resolved.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:30, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Table problem

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalogue #
United States	October 21, 1997	Jetset	2xLP	TWA07
			CD	TWA07CD
United Kingdom	October 27, 1997	Chemikal Underground	2xLP	CHEM018
			CD	CHEM018CD
Australia/New Zealand	October 28, 1997	Spunk		URA013
Japan	August 23, 2000	Toy's Factory		TFCK-87226
Brazil	2002	Trama		T004/824-2
World	May 26, 2008	Chemikal Underground	Download	CHEM106DD
Europe			4xLP	CHEM106
			2xCD	CHEM106CD
United States	May 27, 2008		4xLP	CHEM106
			2xCD	CHEM106CD

How do I get the last rows on the bottom left (4xLP/CHEM106LP, 2xCD/CHEM106CD) to merge with the duplicates directly above them, so that only one set appears? Thom (talk) 23:36, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] May 28

[edit] Ken Gorab

Ken Gorab is probably the awesomest person in existance and will probably live on in fame for the rest of his life. He is in a band Last Stand, and is the singer/guitar player. He will most likely be the core element in the cure for various diseases such as the common cold, and childhood obesity, and also, the ever-elusive Gay chromosome error. He is 16 years old and has much to contribute to the world.

Do you have a question?...... Dendodge .. Talk^Help 00:52, 28 May 2008 (UTC)