Wikipedia:New contributors' help page/Archive/Jul 2006

Editing "Rennet"

I have never used the editor on Wikipedia. Actually I just have a small bit of information to add to "Rennet."

During WW II the rationing of sugar prompted the use of Eagle Brand Sweetened Milk along with Rennet for making egg custard.

Welcome! The wikipedia editor is quite simple. For a full tutorial (no you dodn't have to know all of it), you can see Help:Editing. I'll check the Rennet article and add the information for you. I hope that you choose to join Wikipedia and continue to add relevant information! -- Chris Ccool2ax contrib. 12:07, 1 July 2006 (UTC)


biography template?

is there a template for writing a biography of a dead person? Rabbi-m 03:43, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

Try Template:Biography (you'd add it to an article by typing {{subst:biography}} into the edit box and saving, and then editing it to fit the particulars of the person). You could also refer to Wikipedia:Manual of Style (biographies), or just pick a biography already in Wikipedia and mimic the same format. Good luck! Ziggurat 02:17, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

i want to know what it takes to be an international student of azerbaijan universities

Gooday sir/madam compliments and beat wishes of the day,i am sawaski,from nigerian.i want to make and equiry concercing my status and an intending international students that wish to apply to the above mention university for studies,please i want u to inform me all the cost and what it takes to procure the internatinal studentship of ur univesity,u can get to me through this email address (redacted) thanks for ur co-operation,i look forward to read from u soonest

We are an encyclopedia - your best bet would be to contact the university in question directly. — QuantumEleven 08:36, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Photo upload

Can you guys show me how to upload a photo?Shakim67 05:21, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Sure, just go to Special:Upload and follow the steps. If you need any help, Wikipedia:Uploading images should provide the answers you seek, if not, feel free to post here again! — QuantumEleven 08:36, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Policy on bands

I know Wikipedia has a policy as to the creation of articles on bands and music groups, however, I'm unable to find it at this point in time. Rather than creating an article that would get voted for deletion, what are the criteria for bands to be allowed Wikipedia pages? --TheDrinkNinja 17:47, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Check out WP:BAND. Remember that the group does not need to meet all the criteria under "Musicians and ensembles", it may meet any one of them. -- Steel 17:53, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
  • However, the more criteria it meets, the better its chances are of not being contested by anyone. - Mgm|(talk) 10:08, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

Articles needing style editing

Where do you report an article now comforming to style after you edited it?

For example, I just edited the Ghazi Nara article and it now has a formal tone suitable for wikipedia (IMO).

Do I submit my edit somewhere so that the "needing style editing" tag get removed or is it done through monitoring of edits on those pages? Can I myself decide to remove the tag? --Lostkiwi 22:41, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

If you think you have fixed the problem you may remove the tag, but if discussion was started on the talk page it would probably be best to discuss your changes there first and wait for consensus. —WAvegetarian(talk) 22:54, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for the quick answer. Most of the articles I edit do not have talk pages and seem to have been taken directly from promotional brochures or such so I will access and remove tag if it feels complete enough. Thanks again--Lostkiwi 00:13, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Delete a Page

How do you delte a page you didn't mean to create or is supposed to be delted

If it hasn't been edited by anyone else yet, place the template {{db-author}}. See Wikipedia:Speedy deletion and Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion for more information. Emmett5 04:27, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Internal links in References and Further reading?

(I tried looking this up in the Manual of Style and got as far as "Cite sources" -- which is tremendously detailed, but doesn't appear to relate to this...)
In a listing under References and Further reading, if some of the content can be wikified with an internal link, e.g. Name of publishing institution, the topic itself, etc. == to do so, or not? -- Thanks, Deborahjay 06:58, 1 July 2006 (UTC) Reposted 04:52, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Update: I found a partial answer to this question in Wikipedia:Citing sources/example style under the heading Books. The question remains re: making the publication year an internal link, so I've raised it on the Discussion (Talk) page there. -- Deborahjay 15:58, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Years in isolation should usually not be made a wikilink, unless there is a specific relevance of that year. The reason month-day-year is wikilinked is so that it displays according to user's preference settings. (Check out your own preference page.) Tyrenius 06:13, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Importance/Significance of bands

I'd like to create a page on a band, but I'm afraid it'd be deleted just like A Royal Death was. The reason for the articles deletion was that it did not addess the importance or significance of the band. How would I go about doing that? Are bands that have released albums the only ones allowed? --Fractions 20:55, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Check out WP:BAND. -- Steel 21:04, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Law Schools in India

I notice that there are about only 3 colleges listed under the category of Law schools in India. Any particular reason for this? There are quite a few "National Law schools" which are missing notable amongst them being the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata.

Do let me know what needs to be done to include these schools as well

Best regards

Venkat

Thank you for your suggestion! When you feel an article needs improvement, please feel free to make whatever changes you feel are needed. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the Edit this page link at the top. You don't even need to log in! (Although there are some reasons why you might like to…) The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes—they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills. New contributors are always welcome. In other words, all that needs to be done is for someone like you to write articles on them. —WAvegetarian(talk) 08:31, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

large font!

How do you make large font?! I need to know to set up my user page! Help! FactoryManager 18:08, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Try typing this:
<font size=5>Text here</font>
It should turn out like this:
Text here
Replace the 5 with another number for different sizes. -- Steel 18:12, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
If you simply are interested in making headings, like the one above that says "large font!," you can use equals signs. The heading above is created by typing ==large font!==. Using === on either side makes a subheading.—WAvegetarian(talk) 06:17, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Ducati Motor Holdings

I added some text and made a small correction to some items under this heading. A few days later someone altered part of what I had written, introducing grammatical errors and deleting the example prices I had given in Euros and UK Pounds leaving only the dollar price. Is Wikipedia only for the use and interest of the USA citizens? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 19:29, 5 July 2006 (talkcontribs) 195.93.21.100

Ducati Motor Holding is an Italian manufacturer, so we should use euro as currency in that article. You can read more at Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dates and numbers)#Currency. Jacek Kendysz 19:49, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Number of edits

I've looked a lot around everything I could think of, searched in some help pages but I still don't know how can I see how much edits have I done. If anybody helps, I'd be thankful. --Serte 21:18, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

People used to use this, but it lags behind and is inaccurate now, so instead I suggest you try Interiot's Javascript tool. It takes a little work to get going (the instructions are on the page, and you'll have to paste some code into User:Serte/monobook.js), but it should work fine. Your edit count is currently as follows:
Username Serte
Total edits 337
Distinct pages edited 167
Average edits/page 2.018
First edit 12:54, October 30, 2005
(main) 269
Talk 2
User 7
User talk 1
Image 19
Template 24
Category 2
Wikipedia 4
Wikipedia talk 6
Portal talk 3
I hope this helps! Ziggurat 21:51, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Already got it working, thanks a lot for the help. --Serte 22:07, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

about project

sir,
     i am an electrical engineer,dooing 4th year.I am interested to do project in your company what i have to do?help me 
              thanking you sir
I believe you may be trying to contact a company for work. This is Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. You may have come across an article in Wikipedia about this company. That article may have a link to the company's web site where you will likely find contact info for the company. If you need help finding contact info for the company, please ask at the Wikipedia:Reference desk.—WAvegetarian(talk) 05:45, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Articles With Identical Names

If Lady Penelope is entered in the search box, it redirects to an article named Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, which is about the character Lady Penelope. If I write an article about a UK comic named Lady Penelope, how can I make the search offer it as an option instead of being redirected to the first article? __La Loir Noir 16:35, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

You could add a "See Also" link (e.g 50000 Quaoar) to the Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward article. Or if "Lady Penelope" is relevant to more than two pages a disambiguation page can be created. See Wikipedia:Disambiguation for further information. --Srikeit (Talk | Review me!) 16:46, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

(Edit conflict - the above won't solve it, as the See also link will redirect back to the wrong article.) I had this problem for a while. Here's how to solve it. Enter Lady Penelope and it will take you to Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, near the top of which in small letters is says Redirected from Lady Penelope. Lady Penelope is a blue wikilink. Click on it and you will open up the redirect page, which you can then edit for your article. You should put a link at the top of your new article (copy and paste the text below, including the initial colon:

:for the Thunderbirds character see [[Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward]]

Tyrenius 16:50, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

  • Create a page at Lady Penelope (comic) and at a note to the top of Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward that says: "Lady Penelope redirects here. For the comic, see Lady Penelope (comic)." It requires only one extra click when you are searching and gets it found easily long before the search index is updated (which is not very often). - Mgm|(talk) 09:57, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
  • Apparently someone already did what I recommended. - Mgm|(talk) 10:00, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

Frustrating deletion notices

Hi, on behalf of certain companies (wineries), I have been asked to create a page with factual information on wikipedia for them. Thus, I have permission to use any copy and/or images from their websites. I have tried to create a couple of these, see examples Gloria Ferrer, and Idol Vodka, but I have been getting deletion notices. How do I let others know that I have persmission to use this information from the websites they say is copywrited? And what can I do in the future to prevent these deletion messages from happening?

Thanks.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Kimcray (talkcontribs)

Check out WP:COPYRIGHT, specifically this section. If you've permission to use copyrighted material, indicate so on the talk page (make sure to sign your post) and properly source the material. Check out WP:CITE for sourcing help.
One more thing--it's really generally better if one just takes the primary source information and rewrite it, too. It avoids the copyright pitfalls and helps remove POV.
Additionally, it looks like the articles linked above might be suffering from concerns on a lack of notability, specifically WP:CORP.

Hope all this helps. -- Scientizzle 17:36, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia is intended to be an encyclopedia written by third-party contributors, not a vehicle for free publicity. Your clients can promote their products through other means. JChap 20:48, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Blank lines

Me and my friend need to know how to make blank lines to organize our pages... so that the lines (section titles) don't all go to the right... like look at my "the other stuff" section... I want that to have its own line... my friend had to "list" all his userboxes. --DeKalb 19:02, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

User:Pilotguy has made a change to the page - see if that solves your problem! Ziggurat 21:02, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

I'm Being Threatened. How Do I Protect Myself?

Jeffrey O. Gustafson‎, who is some strange kind of angry administrator keeps deleting a valid page titled: John Strausbaugh. I reverted it once and explained on his talk page. He deleted it again and I reverted it and went to his talk page where I found that he had already threatened to have me blocked should I revert again (which I had already done--so I've reverted a total of 2 times). I've read the 3xs rule. I wanted to protect the page, but I'm new and can't figure out how to do this in time. Nor do I know how to protect myself or block Gustafson.

Please advise me as soon as possible.

Thank you!

ITech

Nobody 'owns' the pages, so you can't protect it from another editor or block another editor from changing it. The point of contention seems to be that the article you're talking about looks a lot like a publicity piece rather than an encyclopedia article, and Wikipedia has strong guidelines against publicity pieces (see, for example, Wikipedia:Vanity guidelines and Wikipedia:Spam, specifically "public relations pieces designed to promote a company or individual"). You can discuss the conduct of admins at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents, but I would suggest that you try opening a discussion on the article's talk page instead. You may also want to try rewriting the article as an encyclopedia piece, paying close attention to NPOV concerns. "erudite, engaging and penetrating social commentary, vivid writing style, and candid treatment of controversial subject material" is so full of puff (known here as peacock terms) that it's difficult to take it seriously. Ziggurat 03:43, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
I understand that the peacock material was how a journalist described John Strausbaugh. In this case, the description can be used but it should be attributed to the journalist (i.e. making sure it does not read as a wiki editorial opininion) provided it has a reference to a reputable source as its origin. Tyrenius 02:56, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

A OLD AMERICAN FLAG...

I NEED TO KNOW WHERE CAN I DELIVER THIS FLAG TO BE BURN. PLEASE CAN SOMEONE EMAIL AT : (e-mail removed to avoid spam)

THANK YOU VERY MUCH,

Daniela Furlan

Contact your nearest American Legion post (http://www.legion.org/?content=post_locator) -- they will be happy to help. — Catherine\talk 04:46, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

Can someone write an article on the invention of broadband.

Heres what I think I know: Data Reach, a New Zealand company has recently gone under liquidation. The company was originally run by Ericsson and invested millions of dollars in creating a super fast internet solution. This solution was finally reached after many years of hard work from a team of over 200 employees. The great solution Broadband was invented by the team, and so were the compnants used to transfer the data. In a small factory, the company manufactured the many units that were to be sold around the world by ericsson. After just afew months ericsson decided that because the invention was not German, they could not market it under their name any longer, so the inventors were sold to some wealthy bankers in America. After afew months the funding was decreased, and Data Reach was running short of money and staff. Data reach had just won prestigeous awards at many conventions for their findings, but were losing strength and ability quickly.

From 2001 to 2006 the staff were decreased to just 5 full time staff, in one small building full of millions of dollars of equipment and hundreds of empty chairs. One does not know what they could have been doing all of these years, and one cannot find out easily. We at www.dwat.co.nz got to know the workers at Data Reach well, and formed a relationship with them. We found that the rent had not been paid for three months on the building, the employees always wondered when their next pay day would arrive, and soon they would be told that Data Reach was no longer. On the 5th of July a liquidation sale of the equipment in data reach had been held. Although all of the top quality equipment had been taken over the past few years and sold to other companies to pay off debts there were still afew good compilations held standing in the building which sold for amazingly cheap prices. This was the end of the inventors of broadband, the new internet phenomenon creators, surely worth billions of dollars, that ended in just afew years.

Sorry thats all i know, not well eplained either. Thanks! Dan

There is already an article on Broadband where you can add information yourself. Please remember, however, to add only verifiable information and to cite your sources. In the future, if there is no appropriate article to add your information to, you can request it at WP:REQUEST or create it yourself. Wikipedia:Your first article has advice on creating articles. Good luck! --Icarus (Hi!) 04:45, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

Administrator Problems

Hello,

I was assigned to admin: Jeffrey O. Gustafson and discovered immediately that he is ruthless, rude, careless and routinely uses obscenities against those who contact him. I asked him, on his talk page, to please have me assigned to another administrator. He promptly deleted my message and archived his talk page. Please tell me how I can be reassigned.

Many thanks

ITech 20:21, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

Calm down. No one is "assigned" to an administrator. It just happened that one gave you a welcome greeting, but this could have been done by any user (and you wouldn't have been "assigned" to them either). I suggest you take your participation as a new editor to wiki more slowly, study how things are done and get to know the ropes. You will then understand why certain edits are done, and how they are in accord with wiki guidelines and policies. There are some useful page links on my user page.[1] --Tyrenius 02:52, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
Hi ITech, I've replied to this further on your talk page (sorry about the delay). If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask me! Ziggurat 03:13, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

How do i add a new subject to Wikipedia?

Please advise how i add a totally new subject to Wikipedia. I have read your editing info but none mention a fresh page, all mention edit this page.

Many thanks

P Munday

  • Try Help:Starting a new page. I'll leave some more useful links on your talk page if I can find your name in the page history. Make sure you sign your question with ~~~~ in the future. - Mgm|(talk) 13:10, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

finding family

Would like to find family in cape verder island. Any help is fine. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cherylm (talkcontribs)

I am sorry, we do not provide such kind of help out here; though you are welcome to make constructive edits to the encyclopedia. Warm regards, --Nearly Headless Nick 14:01, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

I need help!

I'm new here. I want to try to start up my user page so I know how to edit other pages. I need to know how to make Titles and subtitles, and I would like to know how to put those boxes on my page that say This Wikipedia user speaks English or This Wikipedia user plays hockey. Can you help me? Bcody 20:54, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

For sections, two equals signs around the title adds the bold and line, for subsections, use three. Userboxes are generally found in WP:UBX, but you may wish to avoid those mentioning the usual "taboo subjects" of sex, politics, and religion. If you can simply type out your capabilities, it gives people a much better impression of you. Lastly, you may want to check the userpages of other users and click "edit this page" and view how they make the userpage work, then see if that teaches you how they did their own userpage. Hope that helps! ~Kylu (u|t) 21:05, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

Complex Linking

How do you do a complex link with a word linking to an image? Freddie Message? 02:32, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

Type in this:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Picasso_Outside2.jpg Sculpture]
It will give you this:
Sculpture
NB gap between end of URL and key word.
Tyrenius 02:47, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

Actually, no. It's not the solution that I was told. The solution I was told was:
[[:Image:Picasso_Outside2.jpg|Sculpture]]

and it produced Sculpture.

Yes you are right. This is how we do internal linking. The above method is normally either for external linking or if we want to link to a permanent link within wikipedia -- Lost 03:24, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

Thermal Fogging Machine

One of the implementation of JetPulse Engine is 'thermal fogging machine' for agriculture. If any expert can make detail explanation about the machine.

I don't really understand your question, but you might try re-articulating it and asking at the Wikipedia:Reference_desk.--Chaser T 05:49, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

Enforcfed Wikibreak

How do you get this to work? Give me the code please. Fredil Yupigo as 69.158.72.225 21:03, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean, don't you see the code that should be copied into your monobook.js? You should just follow the instructions. Jacek Kendysz 21:47, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

SHALITEX BOARD

What is Shalitex Board in Civil Construction? What material is it made from? What advantages does it have over Thermocol?

--Maloy 09:01, 10 July 2006 (UTC)Maloy

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. -- Lost 09:17, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

seaching problem about ISO 9001:2000

i wanna get the journal (include writer name) for ISO 9001:2000(management) but i only get not much from wikipedia... can i ask for help to get more information from wikipedia?? may be please tell me how to get more information for that ... thanks--Ian0828 16:40, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. -- Lost 17:36, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

Redirect

There is a page Sonny King (singer) which I did not create, however I have observed that if the name is entered in the search engine without the disambiguation (parentheses), it directs to a completely different subject page. Can someone please redirect. I tried redirecting once and I am not good at it. Thanks!!

Now, for a page I did create, Dames of Malta. Somehow I created the category but the page is empty. It has been recommended for speedy deletion for that reason, but I requested "hangon". Can someone please help me to fix the problem. Thanks!!

Queereyes 17:48, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

Hi. Regarding your first query, what you want is a disambiguation page for the two articles. I will create it for you shortly.
As for your second query, you have created the category correctly. If you add this category to various articles, like you did, those articles will appear under the category. Did you want to create an article by that name? -- Lost 18:34, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
Update: disambiguation page created -- Lost 18:38, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

Alan Baskin

Hello, Hayden here (HPTK)

Thank you for putting the stub feature on the bottom of the taronga article. How do i put them onto articles if need be? Thanks for your help.

Find the appropriate type of stub notice here, and then paste it into the bottom of the article. Make sure that you include two pairs of curly brackets around them, like this: {{X-stub}}. Good luck, Ziggurat 06:51, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Category index problem...

Hello.

I've just written my first article; it's a biography of a Colonial Governor called James Harford. I've added various categories, including Old Reptonians, British diplomats and so on, but I've noticed that the page appears in these category lists under J for 'James' instead of H for 'Harford'. How can I flag up the title to be treated as a name and thus listed under H? I'm sure there's a straightforward answer, but I can't seem to find it anywhere! Many thanks. Giler S 15:45, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

I've just answered my own question. To ensure that articles consisting of names appear correctly in category lists, instead of typing, e.g. {{Category:British diplomats}}, type {{Category:British diplomats|Smith, John}} instead. Giler S 16:12, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

hanging indent

How do you make a hanging indent in MediaWiki syntax? -- Chris Ccool2ax contrib. 15:47, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

The only way I know is to add a colon before the second line, and you have to use a manual line-break from the first line to achieve it. Ziggurat 21:18, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Print option

I am using jsp for creating reports, in which i have to print all the records those are breaked on 10 records(each page has 10 records). through next option we go on another page of 10 records. Now just we need to click on print option and all the pages should be printed. i need solution for that —Preceding unsigned comment added by Deepika0703 (talkcontribs)

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. -- Lost 16:56, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Automatic forwarding - can we do it?

I want to add a forwarding/redirecting link for a page that already exists, but may be spelled differently: eg. Amazing_Race exists, but Amazing_race doesn't. Can we provide an automatic forward from the latter to the former?

Yes, in Wikipedia they're called redirects. Ziggurat 00:22, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

getting an answer

hello

i'm a new user and wrote a question a coupleof days ago. where do i look for an answer? how do i know that i actually submitted a question?

yours from somewhere out in cyberspace

bruce --B haggerstone 04:29, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

Well, this is your first contribution under this user name. You may have asked the previous question without a user name. If you will ask it again, people on this page will surely try to answer. Welcome to wikipedia. Please go through the welcome message on your talk page. That should help you get started. For any specific query, do not hesitate to ask me on my talk page or on this page -- Lost 04:41, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

South Africa

To whom this may concern,

As I am new at using this web page I would like some assistance on answering a question I have. The question is Which country is situated within Sout Africa? I am unable to find the answer to this question, so if someone would be able to assist me, it would be greatly appreciated. My email address is <removed email id to prevent possible spam> -- Lost

Thank you very much Yours thankfully Joanne Muller

Check the very first paragraph of South Africa:
The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of the African continent. It borders the countries of Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Swaziland. Lesotho is an enclave entirely surrounded by South African territory.
What you want is the enclave of Lesotho. Good luck! ~Kylu (u|t) 05:59, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

Vandalism

How do i report vandalism of a page if i don't have info on the actual article? (note: i figured out that the article was fixed but i'd just like to know)Hello32020 11:25, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

Nevermind. Figured it out. Just use speedy deletion tag. Hello32020 12:01, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

To be clear, speedy deletion tags should only be used in specific circumstances (see criteria for speedy deletion). If you want to make general reports of vandalism but don't know the actual article name or user name of the vandal (if, for example, you overheard someone bragging about vandalizing a page), you can report it here: Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard. --mtz206 (talk) 12:20, 12 July 2006 (UTC)


User Name Question

Is it possible to change my user name? If so, how? Thanks in advance.Iranian Patriot 22:14, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Changing username. Ziggurat 22:18, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

&ndash

Why do users prefer to use &ndash instead of a normal "-", even though it makes the same thing? Freddie Message? 22:36, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

According to Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dashes), it's a browser support issue. Ziggurat 22:46, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
Okie. Thanks. Freddie Message? 22:49, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
You might also want to see this. — Prodigenous Zee - 01:08, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

Proper format for quoting..

Is there a proper way to quote someone's saying in real life into the article? Normally I see people just put " and start the text. But after looking at a featured article which contained quotes (I forgot the name, the east coast hip hop album) it used the this template.

The way I see it is that the above template is for a huge block of text, the article I'm planning to work on has from short to long quotes. So how would I go about it? — Prodigenous Zee - 01:14, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

It depends on the use of the quote. The {{cquote}} is designed to be a very nice-looking way to present large amounts of quoted text, maybe even several paragraphs. It looks a bit odd with very short (one or two line) quotations. Since there isn't (yet) an entry in the Manual of Style about how to format quotations, I suggest you do what seems most reasonable in the context. Indenting the quote (put a : at the beginning of the line) is always a good idea to offset it from the text, and maybe make it italic. Try to keep the style coherent across the article.
Yes, I realise this is a bit of a wishy-washy answer, but in truth there is no standard way to format quotations on Wikipedia, so it's up to each editor to do as he/she sees fit. Good luck! — QuantumEleven 06:37, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

Redirect

Hi!! Please help. I would like to have a redirect. The page is Rose Thering, but she is best known as Sister Rose Thering so in case anyone enters that name in the search engine they will be automatically delivered to the right page.

My only experience in trying to do a redirect was not entirely successful and I do not want to mes this important page up which I have just updated.

Thanks!!

Rosemary's Baby 04:41, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

Hi, I have done it for you. Pls check. For the future, the best way to do it is by moving the page to the new location. You can see the move tab near the history tab on top of the page. After moving, please ensure no double redirects are created -- Lost 05:22, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

Reverting Chaos

Hi,

I'm new to wikipedia, but sadly many articles that I have read are breeding grounds for people with their own biases and prejudices. This includes extreme-right-wing oriented articles, articles which are racially discriminatory, Islamophobic articles and many articles which tend to forget there is a world beyond Europe and USA. Most of them do not have any citations. Another problem is many provide citations, but if you track them the 'facts' have beeen cited from the opinions of individuals. For example, in an article on Islamization, it was written that Muslims are populating Europe with their unnecessary high 'reproduction rates' and so a theory has been developed that Muslims are a threat to Europe. This was rpovided with a citation, which is from Le Pen, a self-confessed extreme-right-wing Anti-Muslim French Politician. Sadly I will not be using wikipedia as a reference until everyone can come up with a good solution to prevent all this. I tried editing a few lines but someone reverts it back very quickly. There is no point to this. It seems wikipedia is full of these gangs.--194.193.10.114 12:55, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

Hi, being a free to edit encyclopedia has its advantages as well as limitations. However, the wikipedia community regularly tries to overcome any limitations. For the above problem, there are various avenues, where you can seek assistance. You may start with Wikipedia:Resolving disputes where you will find various forums ready to help -- Lost 16:02, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

Links/Fair Use Dumb Questions

A. On the Bradford Bishop Article I don't understand what is being asked for regarding the links. there seem to be both plenty on links inside the article and outside.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradford_Bishop

B. The Marshal's Service has a Picture on thier website that pretty clearly says Proeprty of NBC News. I am pretty sure that means it can't be uploaded here (even if it appears on a Government webstite) - right?

Dumb I know. Thanks

Khan Noonian Singh 22:56, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

On A, the tag is asking for other Wikipedia articles to connect to this one - if you look at what links to that page, you'll see that there are basically no connections from other Wikipedia articles. Ziggurat 22:58, 13 July 2006 (UTC)
If you check here, you'll see I've created a link of the kind requested. Tyrenius 23:07, 13 July 2006 (UTC)
On B, usually if it's copyrighted you cannot upload it, yes. There are a few exceptions (see Wikipedia:Fair use) but even when a picture is on a US govt website it cannot be uploaded if the copyright holder is someone else (see Wikipedia:Public domain#Governmental works). Ziggurat 23:01, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

The Messengers: A True Story of Angelic Presence

I know I should be able to figure this out, but I'm kinda old and don't speak the language. I don't understand why my article isn't ok. I understand that it might look like promotion, because I describe my book, but when one types "The Messengers" into Wikipedia's search engine up comes the description of a horror movie, including those who wrote it, acted in it, etc. My book has been out 10 years and has a very large following. How can you have this movie The Messengers, and then not allow the book? I'll fix it, but I don't know what's wrong. Thank you. Julia Ingram

If your book is notable, then the only reason that there is no article on it is simply because no one has created one yet. The reason the movie has an article is because someone has created an article on it. It's that simple. You're free to create the article yourself, of course. Wikipedia:Your first article has a lot of advice that will help you. You should probably add disambiguation links to the tops of both articles. --Icarus (Hi!) 05:01, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

Deletion

The article I wrote (Pravda Lounge-Bar)has been chosen for deletion. I understand this is not the place to object, so I wont do it here, but I can quite understand where can I do this, where can I object the deletion. I would apreciate any link or any extra hand on this. Thx.

--Ferruz 03:14, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

It's been proposed for deletion. You can remove the tag, but if you do, I recommend making sure you prove it's notable and that you can verify it. If you don't the article will be taken to AfD, where it's possible deletion would be discussed. If you need anything else pop a comment here or on my talk page. Thanks, Yanksox 03:17, 14 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit conflict] Someone has tagged the article as a proposed deletion (WP:PROD), which just means that they think it's missing some things that all Wikipedia articles must have. In this case, I'm guessing that there aren't any reliable sources about the lounge-bar, and in order to fulfil verifiability requirements that's absolutely necessary in the article. If you don't have any such sources (newspaper articles, articles about it in magazines...) then I'm afraid it'll probably get deleted, but if you do then please add them and remove the PROD tag in the page (the whole section in curly brackets titled 'datedprod'). If you remove the tag without getting good sources for the article, it'll probably go to an extended discussion at WP:AfD, and probably get deleted from there. I hope this helps, and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask me! Ziggurat 03:21, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

Neat little tables at the bottom of pages

I've noticed some articles on movie, video game and especially book series have neat little tables at the bottom of the article categorising all the related articles, like this:

{{Animorphs}}

I would like to make one of these for the Mortal Engines series, how do I do this? (Also, what are they actually called?) Battle Ape 06:00, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

They are called Templates. All the information on them is here: Wikipedia:Template namespace. Ziggurat 06:27, 14 July 2006 (UTC)
Thanks! Battle Ape 06:28, 14 July 2006 (UTC)
WP:NAV. Greetings, TZMT (de:T) 13:22, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

Picture placement

I want to put the eight ball rack image in between my contents table and the flags at the top of my user page. How do I get them all on the same line? When I use the "thumb|centre" command it separates them all onto their own lines. If anyone would be kind enough to reply to this coud you send it to my talk page please. Cheers. Kris 10:31, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

(copied from his talk page) Hi, this is regarding your question on the help page. You need to use the Wikipedia:Extended image syntax. Just follow the link and play around with it in the sandbox. Pls let me know if you have trouble with it -- Lost 14:59, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

I don't understand editing

I posted a Question about editing Chewetel Ejiofor, but I don't know how to make the edit link come up on the end of my question? How do I do that {edit} —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Taraza (talkcontribs) 15:26, July 14, 2006 (UTC).

I am not sure what you mean. But every section/subsection gets its own edit link. So you should see the edit link next to a heading. Please rephrase the question if this is not what you asked -- Lost 14:54, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

What is Meta?

Meta? -- 86.144.246.195 18:31, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

Please see Wikipedia:Meta -- Lost 18:36, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

{{CURRENT}} templates

How do you subst these templates and not have them automatically update the date? I don't want to have the (UTC) thing or the time in it, so I don't want to do ~~~~~. Freddie Message? 22:44, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

Ahmmm.... {{subst:CURRENT...}} won't do? fetofs 00:05, 15 July 2006

Request to Remove Template

How do I remove a template, after an article has been wikified?--Theepublicist 08:59, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Hi Theepublicist. If it's a template at the top of the article, it will likely be in the form of {{wikify}} if it hasn't been substituted. If you believe the article no longer requires the template, click the edit this page link and delete the template (templates are always in {{brackets}}). Hope this is the answer you was after, TheJC (TalkContribsCount) 09:04, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

How to Categorize Articles

How do you categorize articles? Your response is appreciated. --Theepublicist 10:30, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Hi again. If you want to add something to a category, at the bottom of the article, insert the category that you want the article to go into. For example, [[Category:Virtual communities]] would add the article into Category:Virtual communities. There is Category:Categories which seperates categories into easy-to-find subjects. Hope this helps. A page I've found useful that has loads of information on (probably too much infact) is Wikipedia:Starter toolset. TheJC (TalkContribsCount) 10:40, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Question on "Wikipedia:Neutral point of view" --> "Undue weight"

in article "Wikipedia:Neutral point of view" --> "Undue weight" is written:

"Articles that compare views need not give minority views as much or as detailed a description as more popular views, and may not include tiny-minority views at all (by example, the article on the Earth only very briefly refers to the Flat Earth theory, a view of a distinct minority). We should not attempt to represent a dispute as if a view held by a small minority deserved as much attention as a majority view, and views that are held by a tiny minority should not be represented except in articles devoted to those views. To give undue weight to a significant-minority view, or to include a tiny-minority view, might be misleading as to the shape of the dispute. Wikipedia aims to present competing views in proportion to their representation among experts on the subject, or among the concerned parties. This applies not only to article text, but to images, external links, categories, and all other material as well. Undue weight applies to more than just viewpoints. Just as giving undue weight to a viewpoint is not neutral, so is giving undue weight to other verifiable and sourced statements. An article should not give undue weight to any aspects of the subject, but should strive to treat each aspect with a weight appropriate to its significance to the subject. Note that undue weight can be given in several ways, including, but not limited to, depth of detail, quantity of text, prominence of placement, and juxtaposition of statements."


My Question : what do you mean by "popular views" and majority? for example if in one of the wikipedia languages, one view is the most popular and the other views are minority views, but in the whole world other views are majority, which view must be the most detailed one? in other words, in one of the languages of wikipedia, the viewpoints(majority, minority) of people speaking that language must be presented, or the viewpoints of all the people of the world? --194.225.24.3 12:16, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

It's a good relevant question and while you may get some answers on this page, I suggest you also place this question on the talk page of the above policy. I am sure you will get a better answer there -- Lost 12:23, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Accidentally created 2 entries

I've just started learning and contributing this week. I noticed that I accidently created two entries for a couple of articles, ien Suzanne lacy and Suzanne Lacy. I've learned my lesson, but I didn't realize that I wouldn't be able to change the title of the article later. Someone came along and made the wrong ones go to the right place. But, I'd like to know if the wrong ones will disappear eventually?

Also, I have been creating articles and the going back to tweak them immediately and over a couple of days. They end up with a lot of little edits. Is that OK or is it considered bad form to do that. Should I always be working in the sandbox?

Thanks. This is really fun.--Sue Maberry 15:33, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Your article will not be deleted if left there; however, a redirect saves unnecessary server load. Also, it's okay to tweak articles over and over again until they are perfect; you don't have to use the sandbox though it may be advisable to use a user subpage for major article changes. Useful Links:
If you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact me at my talk page. Fredil Yupigo 00:57, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

Please have someone fix the name of this page. It should be Gerard Kleisterlee, not Gerard kleisterlee (without proper capitalization).

Thanks!! Catofninetails 18:38, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

I've just done it. If you want to change some article's name, you should click on 'move' button on the top of the page. Your account is probably too 'young' to do it. Jacek Kendysz 18:44, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Please create a disambiguation page for John MacEnery and John McEnery (actor) given the similarities of the names.

Thanks!! Catofninetails 01:55, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

Hi, please see Wikipedia:Disambiguation on how to go about creating a disambiguation page. In the above case, there is a difference in the spellings, so are you sure you want to create a disambig page for them? -- Lost 06:36, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

How to edit external references

In the article on Timothy Treadwell, one of the external links is pretty much a verbatim, uncredited cut and paste of another person's copyrighted webpage (also listed in the external links). The offending link is "The Grizzly Man] - Detailed reconstruction of probable events." There is no Edit button for external links. How can I change it?

Thanks.

You can edit the entire page using the edit tab at the top.—WAvegetarian(talk) 06:23, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
If you are saying that the text in the article is a verbatim copy of one of the external links, please place a {{copyvio}} template at the top of the article. If, however you are saying that the text in two external links are copies of each other, then I dont think we can really do much about it. We do try that wikipedia does not carry copyrighted text or images. For more details, please see Wikipedia:Copyright policy -- Lost 06:26, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

I have been editing,copyediting, writing, adding pictures for another wiki so I am quite knowledgable about the wiki way. I have been a major contributor, as well as welcoming newcomers

I have just arrived on wikipedia, and feel lost. I do not find it wasy to get around. I do not know what the format is for writing, as it seems to be different than to the wiki Had been with for over 6 months.

Can someone contact me please to show me the way around this maze. my interests are in editing, copyediting, adding pictures, and if I have the knowledge, writing.

the material on here is more than on the wiki I have been used to.

I have the knowledge, and the experience, Just please point me in the right direction and allow me to fly.;).;)

thank you

– — … ° ≈ ± − × ÷ ← → · §--Sondra Crane 17:33, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
Hi Sondra, and welcome to Wikipedia. Please see the welcome message on your talk page. I assure you its very easy to get started -- Lost 17:36, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

Submitting an entry

How do I go about submitting an entry for Wikipedia?

Thank you. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.55.90.149 (talkcontribs) .

I assume you want to create a new article. First, you will need to create an account. Click on the link in the upper right corner that says Sign in / create account. Then type the title of your new article in the search box and hit "go". If the article doesn't exist by that name, click the red link that says "create this article" and type the text into the box that appears. Make sure you click the button that says "Save page" when you are done. You can edit this new article later as many times as you like.
Very important: First, do not violate copyright! Copying text from books, other sites, etc. is almost certainly a copyright violation. See WP:COPY. Second, search Wikipedia before creating an article to make sure you are not creating a duplicate article. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs · e@ 20:35, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

Criteria for speedy deletion

What things can't be speedied? -- 86.137.103.73 22:48, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

I'd check out Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion. Gyre 22:52, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
If you could point me to the specific bit which says what can and cannot be speedied I'd appreciate it. -- 86.137.103.73 22:55, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
Can you be more precise? Please, check Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion once again and then ask us. Jacek Kendysz 23:13, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
I heard a while ago that companies cannot be speedied for some reason. I was wondering whether anything else was exempt from speedy deletion. -- 86.137.103.73 23:17, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
I don't think that articles on companies cannot be speedied. You may be also interested in Wikipedia:Notability (companies and corporations). Jacek Kendysz 23:24, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

how can ı create a good poll in wikimedia?

is there any way to create a poll in wikipedia? thanks...

Polls are conducted on wikipedia but only for related stuff, such as if an article achieves a certain quality, we may want to upgrade it to featured status, or if somebody feels that an article doesnt deserve to be in wikipedia, then he may create a poll for other users to comment etc. What exactly do you want to create the poll for? -- Lost 11:53, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

LimeWire

Hi - I am new to this but I made a change to article on Limewire which was deleted because it "was not neutral" . The whole article on LimeWire is an advertising puff for the product which is a million miles away from being "neutral". I merely pointed out the serious drawbacks of the product. Is there one rule for some people and not others? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Margaret Lyons (talkcontribs) 12:26, July 18, 2006 (UTC).

Your edits are not too bad. However, I agree with the others, they could be modified a bit (e.g. calling people "cretins" is not generally considered NPOV). There is a standard policy for everyone that can be found here: WP:NPOV. In the meantime, I hope that you do not get discouraged from Wikipedia since it is a great place, but rather, try to find out what you did wrong and to not do that thing. Happy editing! Fredil Yupigo 11:47, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
(edit conflict):Hi Margaret, I just went through your edit to the above mentioned article. I think, use of a word such as "cretin" is rather uncalled for. As for the comment about the software taking up lot of bandwidth etc, please see WP:V. Anything that we claim here must be verifiable through other respected sources and not just someone's point of view. If you feel you can substantiate what you write, please mention so along with the source on the article's talk page, which is used for discussions about the article. Needless to say, dont let it deter you from contributing to Wikipedia -- Lost 11:50, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Ok I take your point about calling people that use LimeWire cretins but you haven't addressed the other half of my point that the Limewire article is just an advertisement for the product (a product that is about as malicious as it gets) - is that what wikipedia is about? Would it be ok if I just edited it right off wikipedia pages or is that not allowed either? I am not getting the hang of this.

Actually Wikipedia tries to look at the neutral point of view. It tries to address both the negative and positive aspects. You probably feel the negative impacts more. Others may feel the positive impacts more. Both should be included. But both should be verifiable. - Lost 13:29, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
Having read the article in question, I have to say I fail to see how it can be called an "advertisement" - the article describes the software, what it does, and who distributes it. Not every article must include critism of the subject - it's not the point of Wikipedia. However, as others have said above, if you can find some verifiable sources to back up your claims (for instance, a company fired employees for using LimeWire, or a system administrator wrote to LimeWire complaining that their software uses too much bandwidth and this was reported somewhere), then by all means put it in. Otherwise, your statement "Limewire uses too much bandwidth" is equivalent to me writing "LimeWare's interface is difficult to use" - one person's opinion on a subject, which should not be on Wikipedia.
While I obviously don't know your background or what led you to dislike LimeWire so much, I just wanted to add: the whole point of P2P programs like LimeWire is to use all available bandwidth to get the files being downloaded as quickly as possible (and to upload files to others as quickly as possible, obviously), this is not just the case with LimeWire but with every other P2P application out there. Because of this, many of them have bandwidth throttling settings (to restrict their bandwidth usage), I don't know if LimeWire has such a setting. — QuantumEleven 16:04, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

After much thought this debate pretty well kills off the entire Wikipedia project for me. What you guys are saying is that if I invent a new type of gas for using in genocide or how to tie a rope in the most efficient manner for a lynching and put an entirely "neutral" article on Wikipedia then that's ok. If someone else comes along and points out the evil inherent in them, albeit without the blessed references, then that gets deleted. No thanks guys.

Hi again, using an analogy of Lynching and Genocide to the LimeWire article is hardly appropriate. They are very different from each other. Please click on both of them so see how those articles are written. -- Lost 15:13, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

Question about Deleting an Article created by mistake

Maybe this is diambiguation, but I'm not clear on that concept yet. In any case, I created two articles for Suzanne Lacy, one with Lacy not capitalized. It's been redirected, but I think the one for Suzanne lacy needs to be delted. How does this process work? Thanks.--Sue Maberry 20:15, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Dont worry, redirecting is quite ok. Generally this situation arises, when a page is moved from the old to new name -- Lost 20:25, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
Yep redirects are good not bad, if you typed it two different ways then so will people on google. Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 20:47, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

I guess I wouldn't feel bad if it wasn't such an obvious typo. It's just a small l instead of a capital. And Wikipedia isn't case sensitive. I just wish I could easily clean up my mistakes.--Sue Maberry 22:42, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

It is in fact very easy to clean up mistakes. They dont necessarily have to be deleted. Just overwrite them with a new version. Every article after all goes through an iterative process to ultimately become a featured article -- Lost 17:14, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

Sorry to be dense, but I don't understand. The article called Suzanne lacy now exists with a redirect here: [2] I successfully created the new one called Suzanne Lacy. Shouldn't the one with the wrong spelling be deleted?--Sue Maberry 18:35, 19 July 2006 (UTC) It's an obvious typo.--Sue Maberry 18:35, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

  • Actually, the problem is that Wikipedia IS case sensitive, at least with respect to what is typed in the address line or in a wikilink. Therefore, an obvious typo like a capitalization problem is the exactly the sort of redirect you want to keep on hand. The more likely the typo is, the more valuable the redirect is. Johntex\talk 01:17, 20 July 2006 (UTC)
  • See also Wikipedia:Redirect. Johntex\talk 01:18, 20 July 2006 (UTC)
  • Like everyone else has said, there's nothing wrong with having the accidental version exist as a redirect. Forgetting to capitalize the last name is very, VERY common (as a quick look at Special:Newpages will probably verify). If you really, really want it to be deleted, however, and you're the only one who's edited that particular page, you can add {{db-author}} to the top of the page and it will be speedily deleted. --Icarus (Hi!) 05:07, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

When removing {{prod}} notices

Do you need to provide a reason in the edit summary, or is the removal of the notice good enough? -- 86.142.59.191 22:03, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

You don't have to provide a reason, but if you don't, there's about a 140% chance that whoever added the prod will just replace it (counter to prod policy, which says that once removed it shouldn't be replaced) or nominate it at Articles for deletion (which is within policy, and that notice you should not remove). So, you don't need to provide a reason, but I would highly recommend that you do so, for the sake of being convincing. Make sense? Luna Santin 22:09, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks a bunch. -- Steel 22:14, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
Whoops, seems I forgot to log in that last edit... -- Steel 22:18, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

date of Mahabharata war

advertisement by 61.1.78.191 removed -R. S. Shaw 23:26, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure if you mean to create an article about this, but if you want to add the information, you can take a look at the article Mahabharata or for creating a new article, Wikipedia:Your first article and Help:Starting a new page. -- Natalya 13:25, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

This is not a request for help. It's an advt. Should it be removed? -- Lost 17:07, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

talk pages

people keep on telling me to use the talk pages. How do i find and use the talk pages?

Just look at the top. Alongside the article or project page, there is a tab called discussion. That is the talk page for that article. Every article/user/portal etc. in wikipedia has an associated talk page where relevant discussions can take place -- Lost 16:59, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
Somewhat confusingly, however, it is actually labeled "discussion" in the default view on Wikipedia. Johntex\talk 01:14, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

talk pages

how do i find my talk page?--Sam ellis 17:01, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

Click on 'my talk' at the top right of the page. SubSeven 17:05, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
Click on this link: User talk:Sam ellis -- Lost 17:05, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

Hi!!

Hi -- can someone please create a disambiguation page for the following:

Thanks!! ArchieAndrews 00:58, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

I took care of it, Archie

JulietfromVerona 01:00, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Are music DVD stubs put in music video stubs?

What I mean is like a DVD of a band's concert, or like a DVD of the band's past material. Is the proper stub status for these articles this one? — Prodigenous Zee - 01:13, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

The idea of marking an article a stub is that whenever someone is working on bettering stubs, he can go to the relevant category which he is interested in, and add info to the stub. If the music video stub defines the article in question well, then there is no harm in having a music video stub. Also new cateogories of stubs must be created with caution and should first be proposed at Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting -- Lost 04:24, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

Image problems

Can someone explain how to post images without linking me somewhere else? (11987 06:18, 20 July 2006 (UTC))

At the left-hand side of the any Wikipedia page, below the search box, you will see a link Upload file. On that page, read the warnings about copyrighted files, and then you will come to a few boxes. And then:
  1. Next to the Source filename box click Browse and select the file you want to upload.
  2. In the Destination filename box put the name that you want to use for the file in Wikipedia, please use something descriptive. (This will default to the same as the file's name on you PC, but you can chnage it.)
  3. In the large Summary box, put a little bit about the image - what it is, where you got it from, who made it, that sort of thing.
  4. From the Licencing drop-down, select an appropriate licence - if it's an image you created, select GFDL (self made) to use the same terms as your text contributions, or PD (self made) to allow absolutely anyone to do absolutely anything with it. If it's an image you found rather that one you created, the appropriate licence will depend on where you found it and what you're planning on using it for after uploading it. If you don't select a licence, or the licence you select is clearly wrong, the image may well be deleted within a week, so it's in your interest to get this bit right.
  5. Finally, tick Watch this page if you want changes made to the image description or licence information by others (for instance, if there's a problem with what you've put) and click Upload.
If the destination filename is already in use, you will get a message saying so, if this happens go back and put a different name (you can overwrite existing files, but please don't unless you're just uploading an improved version of the existing file.) -- AJR | Talk 11:08, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

Adding stuff to templates

How do you add article links to a template. For example

i want to add Galactic Federation to

, but i dont know how. Please help. (11987 06:22, 20 July 2006 (UTC))

The {{Metroid series}} is a template - you can edit it at Template:Metroid series. Hope that helps! — QuantumEleven 08:15, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

references doesn't function

Don't know why, but I don't get along with it. Please see: Bad Nenndorf (concentration camp) I like Burke's Peerage

Its functioning now. Pls check -- Lost 15:25, 20 July 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for help I like Burke's Peerage

Change of page name

Can someone please change the name of Brian Jenkins' page to Brian Jenkins (politician) so that I may create a disambiguation page for him and Brian Michael Jenkins.

Thanks!! JulietfromVerona 22:59, 20 July 2006 (UTC)


Never mind -- I figured out a way to do it myself. Tough love, huh!

JulietfromVerona 00:58, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

color of links

I've redirected to our page, and the links are a different color than the rest. Why?

I thought I read something on color but can't find it now.

Quite simply, blue links point to an existing article whereas red links point to a non existent article. Does this answer your question? -- Lost 16:29, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
Also, light blue links point to external sites, whereas darker blue links point to pages on Wikipedia. If you're logged in you can change this, so that redlinks are simply followed by a question mark, by editing 'misc' in your preferences. Ziggurat 23:12, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

External Links

I would like to add an external link to the section on the "Luhn Algorithm." I have created a webform that has a working calculator that implements the algorithm and links to another page that shows the code in Visual Basic.NET. I'm not trying to sell anything nor is there a link to anything other than what I stated. I believe this link would shed further light on the topic at hand.

I am new to Wikipedia.

Thanks for you help.

James

Please see Wikipedia:External links -- Lost 05:57, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

I clicked "edit this page" for John Faso and an older version

of the article appeared. This happened at 6:10 pm pst 7/21. What should be done? Is it going to fix itself? Should I hold off on doing more edits on the article? Etc. Thanks, Rich 09:10, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

Sorry this took so long to respond to. The problem may have resulted from corruption of our data base caused by a server malfunction that occurred around that time. I believe I have restored it to the correct version. (When in doubt, blame the equipment.) :)—WAvegetarian(talk) 00:39, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

Okay, thanks! Rich 08:28, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

Userboxes

How do I make a userbox? GrimRepr39 21:06, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Userboxes#Designing a userbox. Jacek Kendysz 21:21, 22 July 2006 (UTC)
Please note that creating new userboxes in the template namespace seems to be currently discouraged; see Wikipedia:German userbox solution. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs · e@ 21:44, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

Tag for image

I want to upload an album cover for the rock group Skid Row, but I don't know which is the right licence. I have scanned the file myself. Help

Here's the right tag: {{albumcover}}. Please remember to add a fair use rationale for its use -- Lost 08:43, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

New topic

How do I start a new topic that isn't even in a search?

See here. However, before creating your first article, I recommend that you read the following: Manual of Style, Your First Article, and the Criteria for Speedy Deletion. Also, next time, remember to sign your posts with ~~~~. Thanks for joining Wikipedia and I hope you will like it here! If you have any questions you can place {{helpme}} on your talk page and a more experienced user will soon come to your aid. Fredil Yupigo 22:15, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

Changeing a re-direct page to disambigaution

Brand new user, first page.

I've created a page for a musician called Shri. Wikipedia already has a page for Shri - which automatically re-directs to the page Sri (of which it is an alternative spelling). My page is listed as Shri (Musician). Is it ok just to change this re-direct page to a disambuagation (listing 'Shri' as both alternate spelling for Sri, and the name of a recording artist), or would this cause Problems? --Indisciplined 22:37, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

Hi, I think that would be an excellent idea and I can't see it causing any problems. Make Shri a disambig, pointing to both Shri and Shri (Musician), and probably include a see also to Sri (disambiguation) at the bottom. The style guide for formatting this info is at Wikipedia:Manual of Style (disambiguation pages), and if you have any questions (or if you want someone else to make the page!) don't hesitate to ask, here or on my talk page. Welcome to Wikipedia! Ziggurat 23:10, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

Thanks Ziggurat, had a go, and that seems to work. --Indisciplined 23:38, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

Not too bad :) I've made one or two changes, but on the whole it looks fine. Ziggurat 23:51, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

Creating Infoboxes

How do you create infoboxes? If you look at the article for American Airlines you see a box over to the right with some information. When looking at "edit this page" you see something called "

New contributors' help page/Archive/Jul 2006

but its just to alert administrators to check that the page isn't being used for evidence of disputed behavior. If your doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about —Minun SpidermanReview Me 11:03, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Cant find a place to pose my question

Can anyone please tell me what is the difference between a document management system, a record management system, a database management system and an information system. May you please suppy me with examples of each. Thank you

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. - Tangotango 11:56, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Eden Ahbez, Nature Boy

hello, i am trying to get as much information as possible about this man and his recordings. i would like to know the source for the claim that Nature Boy was written about Gypsy Boots. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Shizenko (talkcontribs) 16:53, 27 July 2006.

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (here, you can get help with editing and finding your way around Wikipedia). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. Jacek Kendysz 17:11, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Company's wiki

I am rebranding a site because of an acquisition, but I need to do the following:

- Keep our Wiki site (URL) - Link to the current Wiki pages from a rebranded WebHome

In essence, I need to move everything down one level so I can create a new site with new pages.

I'm new at this so I hope I'm making sense.

Thanks for your help.

--NYCE 22:22, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

You might find what you are looking for in the article about wiki. If you cannot find the answer there, click here to post your question at that article's talk page. If that doesn't solve your problem, you can try asking your question at Wikipedia's Reference Desk. They'll be glad to answer questions about anything in the universe (except about how to use Wikipedia, which is what this help desk is for). I hope this helps. -- Lost 02:09, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for giving me a starting point. I just posed another question below, after searching and not seeing your response. My apologies if I asked the same question twice, otherwise any additional info is always appreciated.

--NYCE 20:20, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

I saw this really cool thing

it is a thing that shows if ur online or not. where can i get one? (11987 03:02, 28 July 2006 (UTC))

One that I know of is User:Topaz/statuschanger.js -- Lost 03:05, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Adding spoiler headings.

I've seen the headings on some articles that warn the reader of spoiler information below. I want to add this to an existing article but I don't know how. I've tried copying the text of some other articles, but it doesn't seem to work. Thanks. --Dark Kubrick 11:13, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

You need to add {{Spoiler}} -- Lost 11:15, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
Also, you might want to see Help:Template. Fredil Yupigo 01:52, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

Passing or Failing Good Articles

I'm a little confused on how to review good article nominees. If I wanted to pass the article, then the page says to remove it from the list, then list it as passed, and then to replace "GA Nominee" on its talk page with simply "GA". To me, this seems a little too quick and easy, as it sounds like almost anyone could pass or fail it. Are there any requirements for the reviewer who is passing or failing the article (besides the obvious, like reading the article)? If you pass it, do you have to list several sound and good reasons for passing or failing it, or just simply add it to the GA page (the nominee page says nothing on that)? Thanks.

I believe good articles are supposed to meet the Good Article Criteria. For more detailed information, you may want to ask at the Good Articles talk page -- Natalya 02:51, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

How do I Save a Current Site so I Can Link to It...

...from a new site I am creating within the same site?

I'm new to this and am unsure how to even ask the question.

Basically, my company was acquired and I need to update and rebrand the internal sites we set up. I'd like to keep the current sites as is, so that people can reference it (we all know change can be painful).

Is this even smart? I'd hate to have people updating stufff on the old pages.

PLEASE help. Not sure how to go about this.

--NYCE 20:17, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. -- Natalya 02:52, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

Andy Warhol

Just came from the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) exhibit on Warhol and was reading up on the subject here. Notice that in the film section of the Warhol information that there is a name of an actor in Warhol's films 'Ondine' that is not linked. The AGO exhibition leaflet says that Ondine was Robert Olivio and I did find a reference to this person on the IMDB site. As Im not sure of the rules about using other web info and how to add it to Wikipedia, I offer the information for another to add to the Warhol information.--Mapleview 22:22, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Why dont you go ahead and add the info yourself. Just make sure its not a direct copy paste of the other website as Wikipedia is very strict about WP:Copyrights. -- Lost 05:31, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

New Article

I'd like to add an entry to Wikipedia. It is ZAPPALORTI SOCIETY, which is a group that meets downtown Manhattan, New York, New York. It is a support group, started in 1992, for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, whom the founder of the group calls psychiatric survivors. How do I make such an entry?--Alvinfahn 04:39, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

See: Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article. But make sure you also read about WP:Notability -- Lost 05:29, 29 July 2006 (UTC)
You may also try WP:ER to get a review on yourself —Minun SpidermanReview Me 19:10, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
Sorry, there was an error and I answered the wrong question, sorry —Minun SpidermanReview Me 19:12, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Soft redirects

Why do we use soft redirects to Meta pages? Won't

#REDIRECT [[meta:asdf]]

work? Fredil Yupigo 01:25, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

No it won't work. And please do not use templates in your signature, it's not good; WP:SIG#Transclusion/template.

Experience

Can I write an article based solely on my own knowledge/experience?

For example, I was considering adding onto the broom article and putting in something about toy brooms (the ones you see people using with the long handled dustpans). In part of the section, I'd like to talk about the two different styles of bristles - synthetic and corn husk. I'd like to add that the corn hust is preffered because the bristles are much stiffer with is useful for removing dust from carpeting.

I have no sources that I can cite from to show that it has been documented that the corn husk works better, or in fact any sources for anything I just said. I know it to be true because of my experience as a janitor and from talking to people who have done it for years. I wouldn't be putting in stats, quotes or other ideas that traditionally need citation, however.

A professor of mine told me that if you don't have the citation to back it up, leave it out. Is that the policy here?

I'd like to create new pages and expand the cleaning section, but all I have to go on is experience and firsthand knowledge (with the exception of MSDS sheets and vague blurbs).

So, in closing - articles written from firsthand knowledge - ok or no? --Teh Janitor 07:01, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

Yes Wikipedia does not allow original research. verifiability is a key policy -- Lost(talk) 07:04, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the timely response : ) I'm not trying to be a pest here, but I'd like a bit more clarification. Just so I'm totally clear here, I can't say put up an article called 'high duster' that says 'a tool fitted with a small mop that cleans vertical surfaces' unless I can produce a source for that statment? --Teh Janitor 07:10, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

That would hardly be original research. Original research means proposing something new. Normally an obvious statement would not need to be cited. If however, the statement is questionable, the editor will be asked to cite it using a reliable source. -- Lost(talk) 07:16, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

Thanks again! Just figured I'd ask some questions lest I step on toes.

Ultimately, don't worry about it too much -- one of the beauties of a wiki is that no matter how badly somebody messes up, it can almost always be fixed pretty quickly. I say, be bold and learn as you go -- sure, pay attention and learn, don't be reckless, but sometimes it just makes sense to learn things as you go, too. Pay attention to nothing but rules, and the system becomes paralyzed; pay attention to no rules, and the system becomes too chaotic; the trick is finding a happy medium. And, of course, it never hurts to ask. Happy editing. Luna Santin 07:27, 30 July 2006 (UTC)
Interesting question, and one I was just about to ask - I am going to write an article on a notable bushfire which occured in Australia on Jan 1. Now, see, I was living in the middle of the area ravaged by fire, and can add some information that wasn't reported in the news sources I have (SMH etc.) about it. Am I able to do this, or is this also a violation of WP:OR? Killfest2Daniel.Bryant 07:40, 30 July 2006 (UTC)
Well, all I can say is that if a user decides to put it up for deletion saying its a hoax, how are you going to defend it? -- Lost(talk) 07:59, 30 July 2006 (UTC)
Well, I'll tell them about the grandfather I lost in the fire. Hopefully that will convince them... Killfest2Daniel.Bryant 08:29, 30 July 2006 (UTC)
I am sorry to hear that -- Lost(talk) 11:38, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

Benzly Hype

HYPE!!! Much more than Hype Born Hemsley Ainsley Coleman Morris Jr. on September 20, Benzly Hype!!!- a member of the popular Innocent Kru has an extraordinary combination of musical talent, brains and hype.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Browngirl (talkcontribs) .

Hello Browngirl. I'm sorry but I didn't see any question in your post. Also posting the entire content of an article here, or at least many paragraphs is not very useful so I have removed all but the first paragraph. If you have a question, please state it below. Note that you should not indent text as you did, as the software places that in a text box. Also, please sign your comments by typing four tildes after them, like this ~~~~. Thanks.--Fuhghettaboutit 14:31, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

Taking screenshots

I didn't really know where to ask this, so I put it here.

I'm trying to obtain screenshots of a film for inclusion in its article, as I think it really needs some good images. I played the film in my computer, did the "print screen" option, pasted it into paint, selected the section I wanted, and then cut and pasted it into a new file. But for some reason I still get the entire image I originally took. I've tried this on various DVD players on my computer (Windows Media Player, PowerDVD XP, InterActual) but it's always the same thing. My computer is a Sony VAIO, and I'm using the widescreen DVD for the film. Any ideas?

You can put the video back on, press Print screen (it won't actually print) then go to paint, right click and go to copy, then modify it, removing the edges, and then save the image, cheers —Minun Spiderman 14:53, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

No, no, no. I've used the print screen option before, but for some reason, whenever I take the screenshot, and cut out the part I want, the image is placed on a purple background. You didn't really answer my question.

It sounds like the default canvas size is too large. Resize the canvas down to tiny say 50 by 50 pixels. When you paste your cut out into the new document it will be too large and you will be asked if you want to enlarge the canvas. Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 15:23, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, but that didn't work either. I'm never asked to enlarge the canvas or anything, I just do it myself. The image is placed on some purple background. Whenever I cut out the part I want, instead, the exact size of the part I cut is instead some kind of screen that I can drag around to look at the original image. It's really hard to explain, but can anyone direct me to someone who might know about this?

TIBET VS CHINA

Why is every detail about China involving Tibet,so blatantly deleted,removed or ignored whether its a intellectual/political word being used as an excuse for such a blatant money hand out in Yuans?

When you have a large article, or otherwise very interesting topic, there will be alot of users watching the page. If someone disagrees with an edit you made, try taking it to the talk page and discuss it. Feel free to cite a source for anything you wish to include in an article, this may also settle a dispute over an edit. If not, there is always WP:RfC and WP:MC. SynergeticMaggot 18:12, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

Adminship?

Not sure if this is the correct place to ask, but...I may in the future be interested in pursuing adminship (obviously when I'm more experienced and have made more of a contribution), but I was wondering if there are any public criteria that I can view to see how plausible such a goal would be? Thanks much for your help ^^ Keakealani 23:14, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

There really isnt any criteria. Although many users who either support or oppose on WP:RfA do in fact have personal criteria. By watching current nominations, you will be able to pick up on the reasons why some do not reach adminship, and other breeze on into it. SynergeticMaggot 23:18, 30 July 2006 (UTC)
You can also have a look here. Lectonar 08:36, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
You may be also interested in this, but it hasn't been actualized recently. Jacek Kendysz 10:18, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

my first article

I noticed that there is a dearth of material on couples and family therapists and so i wrote my first article about Diana Kirschner. unfortunately, I saved my first version sans References and her publications not realizing that this would be posted immediately. Several reviewers came on referring to the absence of references etc. As her collaborator for 25 years (and husband)I tried to explain the situation. I've discontinued writing the piece until I get some guidance. There are 15 publications to cite and several important ideas that have been validated in the empirical literature. Sorry for my confusion.

Hi there. First, let me say welcome to Wikipedia and thank you for your contributions! People have a tendency to jump on new entries that do not have citations, as so many such entries turn out to be vanity pieces. I don't think that this is the case here, so what I suggest you do is simply cite all claims that could be contentious. For example, demonstrating Kirschner's influence on / relevance to the general topic should be sourced. It's pretty much the same as an academic essay or lit. review, and all the guidelines on how to format them are at Wikipedia:Citing sources. If you have any problems or concerns, don't hesitate to ask me at my talk page or right here. Regards, Ziggurat 02:20, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
I suggest you add some comments to the article indicating it is under construction. Hopefully others will give you time to add references. Once you've finished your article, you may wish to seek feedback - post it at Requests for feedback, a new and fast-growing initiative to help newcomers get feedback on articles they write. --J.L.W.S. The Special One 08:04, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Replying to older questions on talk pages

When writing something on a talk page, normally your comment goes on the bottom? Is there a way to reply immediately beneath a question several lines above? I understand that the colon should lead a reply line to offset it horizontally, but I don't know how to get it in the right vertical position. Boris B 08:27, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

You're talking about Talk:Musical mode? There, you just have to hit edit this page (not the little +) ,if your server can stand it, and insert your comment in the appropriate section. I've done it for you now. Cheers. Lectonar 08:32, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
You will also see the edit section beside every section or subsection if you want to edit only that section -- Lost(talk) 10:23, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
And remember to start your comments with :, that will leave a space befomre your message, cheers —Minun SpidermanReview Me 11:01, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

which category to use? :S

Hi, I notice that there is a category called Category:Airlines of Australia. I want to add an article on a company in my town (Hobart, Tasmania, AUS) that do jet adventure flights (aerobatics and the like), would this count as an Airline of Australia, or is there a more suitable category? Thanks! --L3p3r 11:25, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

If you click on the above category, you will see only two subcategories, which I dont find very relevant to the airline that you are talking about. So yes, this will be an appropriate category to add to the article. You can however, also add other categories that would be relevant to the article -- Lost(talk) 11:35, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
All this provided that the article is supposed to be about a notable company. :)) Lectonar 11:40, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
Hmm... well I'll put it up and let the masses decide :) As the only jet adventure company in the state, and consequently the owner of the fastest private vehicle in the state, I think perhaps it is justified? --L3p3r 11:46, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Using Wikipedia

I am trying to use wikipedia but I can not use it successfully. The page is not looking like other pages having links and many mores. How to make it possible? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.197.96.5 (talkcontribs) .

What exactly are you trying to use wikipedia for? Do you want to edit or do you want to refer to an article? Can you be more specific please? -- Lost(talk) 13:09, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
OK, I just checked a few of your edits. What you are doing is called Wikipedia:Vandalism. It is strongly discouraged here. Please desist from doing it -- Lost(talk) 13:13, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
I looked up the edits too, and they look like experiments, not vandalism. Don't forget to always assume good faith. The original poster might want to experiment in the sandbox and also read about editing Wikipedia. Happy editing! --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs · e@ 14:50, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
Hi Ginkgo, I was referring to this edit in particular [3]. The word added by anon is a profanity in Hindi. And articles relating to the state of Jammu and Kashmir have been a target of passionate nationlism bordering on vandalism in the past because of an ongoing dispute between two countries -- Lost(talk) 14:56, 31 July 2006 (UTC)