Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2014 February 24

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February 24

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How do I favorite a portal.

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I mean like, make it show up on your user page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Huskie444 (talkcontribs) 00:13, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You want the page itself to appear transcluded to your user page? or you want a "portal" link on your page? -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 01:18, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
If you'd like to know when a change is made to it, you can add it to your Watchlist. - Purplewowies (talk) 06:31, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Changing the size of an image

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I recently added an image to Pattern Recognition in Physics, however, I wanted to know how I can make it smaller as it seems to be way too big in its current form. I know that with the infobox person template you can just add the image_size parameter, but I tried doing that with the journal infobox and it doesn't seem to work. Can anyone advise me on how to shrink the image? Jinkinson talk to me 00:22, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Picture tutorial for everything about images. Edokter (talk) — 00:24, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Quotation

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Can someone please take a look at this? [1] As nobody exactly said "educational purposes", is it okay to include "educational purposes" in a quotation? I would argue that a quotation is used to quote what somebody said, not for paraphrasing. What do you think? Timelezz (talk) 07:19, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I agree, such "scare quotes" should be avoided. However, there is an actual quotation that could be used: "It is a good opportunity to invite our guests to watch. ... We are here to educate people and that is a good way to show people what a giraffe looks like. [emphasis added]" Anon126 (talk - contribs) 07:32, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

RecentChangesLinked

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Is it possible to see recent changes in pages in a subcategory using Special:RecentChangesLinked or some other tool? For example, Special:RecentChangesLinked/Category:Wikipedia shows changes to pages in that category only. It doesn't show changes to pages in a subcategory, say for example, Category:Parodies of Wikipedia. See the difference between Special:RecentChangesLinked/Category:Parodies of Wikipedia and the previous link. --Glaisher [talk] 09:11, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Add Caps to the display title

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I want to add caps to the display title of the page Bongo Boy Records which was recently created. Bongo boy records — Preceding unsigned comment added by 158.151.208.58 (talk) 13:28, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

If you mean that you want the page title to display in all-caps, we don't normally do that. What exactly do you want and why? DES (talk) 13:53, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Bongo boy records has been moved to Bongo Boy Records. Is that what you wanted? PrimeHunter (talk) 14:17, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Weighting of anonymous contributors' input in RfCs

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Is there a policy statement or guideline that discusses how comments made by unregistered participants (that is to say, users posting anonymously from unregistered IP addresses) should be handled in the closure of Request for Comments discussions? I've seen a number of anecdotal comments that say that comments from IP addressses are discounted in RfC closures, but I am not aware that there is any formal rule on which such claims are based. If there isn't any formal rule, is the claim that IP address comments are discounted valid as far as actual practice goes? Dezastru (talk) 15:17, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It depends entirely on what their comments are. If the comment is a well-reasoned argument based in policy, then it counts just as much as if a seasoned editor made it. IPs are human too, and anyone closing an RFC who discounts an argument based solely on the fact that it was made by an unregistered editor should not be closing them at all. Yunshui  15:28, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
If a registered contributor makes a poorly-reasoned comment that is not based on policy, then a closer would be expected to discount or ignore that comment as well, so from what you are saying there doesn't seem to be any difference between how registered users' comments and unregistered users' comments are supposed to be handled in closures.
Wikipedia:IPs are human too but that doesn't mean that their opinions count in RfCs, unless there is a policy or guideline (not just an essay laying out someone's opinion) that says they should (or should not). Dezastru (talk) 15:51, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

New home for my article

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Can I find a new home for my article deleted on Wikipedia? Pls help. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 106.194.220.245 (talk) 15:36, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Your IP address has no other edits. What was the article? See Wikipedia:Alternative outlets for general advice if you mean a home outside Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:41, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

images

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Is it a copyright infringement to use images from wikipedia? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.184.52.153 (talk) 16:19, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Reusing Wikipedia content. --  Gadget850 talk 17:09, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Accessing Wiki's Help Desk and the proposed Wiki Amendment pages

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1) Please can you tell me how to access, from scratch, the Wiki Help Desk. (After I have logged in, of course.)

2) Please can you tell me how to find the pages on Wiki's current Amendment proposal: (a) the page where the Amendment appears, and (b) the list of comments about the Amendment. Finding these is always hit and miss.

3) Why can I not find the full list of comments on the Amendment any more? There seems to have been a change today in listing these. Yesterday all comments were listed, with an index. Today some new comments are listed, omitting all the older ones, and with a completely different index, which refers to the new ones only. P123cat1 (talk) 16:43, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You have just accessed the Help Desk. Next time, access it the same way.
As for "Wiki's current Amendment proposal", which amendments are you referring to? All sorts of things get amended all the time. You will have to be a lot more specific to get a useful answer. AndyTheGrump (talk) 17:11, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
There are many ways to get to this help desk. One is to enter "WP:HD" in the search box (any capitalization works). Another is to click "Help" under "Interaction" to the left of any page, and then click one of two "Help desk" links on that page. Main Page also has a link. I don't know which amendment proposal you have in mind but maybe it's listed at Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals). Or are you by any chance referring to meta:Terms of use/Paid contributions amendment and it's talk page meta:Talk:Terms of use/Paid contributions amendment? Those pages are at https://meta.wikimedia.org which is another website with its own links. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:40, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

How do I address the notability issues in this article?

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The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.


Focus the Producer Rico2014 (talk) 19:09, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You have also asked this question at the Teahouse. Please don't post the same question in more than one place. --ColinFine (talk) 19:31, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Hi, User talk:User 38 just moved this page to Trumpeldor Cemetery (temp) without giving a reason. I've worked on the page and I really don't understand the new name. I also don't know how to undo it. I was going to contact User 38 on his/her talk page, but there I notice he/she is blocked for sockpuppetry. Can one of your administrators undo this move? Thanks, Yoninah (talk) 19:14, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, great, it looks like this isn't the only page being abused. An admin just reverted this along with a whole bunch of edits by this sock. Thanks, Yoninah (talk) 19:17, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Wrong venue for this, btw. This is for helping people who don't know something, not for helping people with other stuff. A better place to post this (and get more admins) would be WP:AN. Rcsprinter123 (discuss) @ 00:59, 25 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Rejected article

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I Submitted a article for review on the subject of Dr. Parviz Kambin. My article was rejected. Please directed me to someone who can help me with the article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jds319 (talkcontribs) 19:20, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

There is a help desk dedicated to AFC issues here: Wikipedia:WikiProject Articles for creation/Help desk.--ukexpat (talk) 19:43, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Hello Jds319. Your attempt to add a reference was mis-formatted, and had the effect of blanking the rest of the content of the page Wikipedia Talk:Articles for creation/Parviz Kambin, so I have removed it. It is not an acceptable reference anyway, because it is a reference to a work by the subject, not writing about him: it is possible that it could appear in a "selected publications" section of the article, but it does nothing to establish that he is notable by Wikipedia standards, which is what is needed at this point. You need to find reliable sources, independent of Dr Kambin which have written at length about him: major newspapers or magazines, or books from reputable publishers. If you cannot find such references, then there cannot be an article about him in Wikipedia, no matter how you write it. Sorry. Please read WP:NACADEMICS for more information, and Referencing for beginners for how to put the references into the article. --ColinFine (talk) 19:44, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Tranquil, Mississippi

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Hi there, the article "tranquil" redirects to the article "Tranquil, Mississippi". My concern is that some of the redirects really shouldn't, eg. [2]. Should I remove the redirect? Or remove the wikilinks around "tranquil" in the articles it's used in? I don't think a disambiguation page is needed, as there's really only 1 article about Tranquil. Thanks for your advice. Magnolia677 (talk) 19:29, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, the links should probably be removed (except the one from Wikipedia:Avoid using wikilinks because that one is just for humor). I've added a notice at the top of Tranquil, Mississippi just in case. Anon126 (talk - contribs) 20:16, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I'll do that. Thanks! Magnolia677 (talk) 20:19, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I converted Tranquil from a redirect to a disambiguation page, so if there are any additional articles about things called "Tranquil" (or "tranquil") they can be added to the list on that page now. DES (talk) 20:41, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

j where do go

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Please am i to be wed? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 166.216.162.53 (talk) 19:30, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 4 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck.--ukexpat (talk) 19:46, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Cashing a paycheck

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I have been told that in African a check made out to someone that has provided a business service was not able to cash the check there is there any truth or is there any merit to this claim.. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.65.248.150 (talk) 19:45, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 4 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck.--ukexpat (talk) 19:47, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I would also refer you to our article 419 scams. Calliopejen1 (talk) 21:26, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

False positive duplication

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Hi,

MadmanBot says the page is created was copied from a different website, however, it is not.

How can I get the MadmanBot warning removed from the page I created.

Thanks,

Pat — Preceding unsigned comment added by Patconti (talkcontribs) 20:30, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I've looked over the article and removed the copyright warning. However, I've tagged the page with another notice because the sources are unclear. (You can read the notice for more information.) I've also removed some external links based on the external link guideline. Anon126 (talk - contribs) 20:49, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) Patconti, this seems to be a pretty obviosu false positive, I don't even see any similarities between Veronica Jacques and http://www.veronicajacques.com/ besides the page title and the URL of her site. I would follow the instructions in the tag and "If MadmanBot is in error: Simply note so on this article's discussion page." and remove the tag, or I can do so. DES (talk) 20:52, 24 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]