Help desk
< August 19	<< Jul \| August \| Sep >>	August 21 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Help Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current Help Desk pages.

August 20

Image Question

how to put an image into an article? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by GAROZ (talk • contribs) 23:46:39, August 19, 2007 (UTC).

Check out the images page, it provides instructions on this. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 00:34, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Birthdates: can they be edited?

I am in the process of creating a bio page for an artist who will release an album on 8/28. The person does not want their bio to be edited to reflect their birthdate. For privacy purposes they are concerned about members having the ability to edit the bio. How can this be prevented? Please help. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by LeddyLover (talk • contribs) 23:52:11, August 19, 2007 (UTC).

The simplest way is to put a comment in, or to remove it. As far as I am aware, if the birthdate is publicly available, then it can and should be included, however if they are not wanting it in I assume that is grounds for not including it. Matt/TheFearow (Talk) (Contribs) (Bot) 00:33, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The policy on biographies of living people says that for most people, the year is sufficient. Probably the best thing to do is watch the article and remove the birthdate if it is added. Kevin 00:39, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You may not be aware of this, but your postings are on your user page (User:LeddyLover) rather than in article space in a Ledisi article. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 16:52, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Redlining and Germans

Where do I find information about Germans in the United States dealing with dual labor market, Environmental Justice issues, affimative action, redlining, double jeopardy, institutional discrimination, reverse discrimination, glass ceiling, glass walls, or glass escalator? I am doing a homework assignment on the Germans and the tings I mentioned above. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.131.55.74 (talk) 02:15, August 20, 2007 (UTC)

These questions are best asked at the Reference Desk. The Help Desk is for questions about the Wikipedia. --Tλε Rαnδom Eδιτor (tαlk) 02:27, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Posting an artical

<How do I post an artical?

See the Very Frequently Asked Questions or Your First Article. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 03:08, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Citing a thesis

Is there a page that shows a format for citing a dissertation or thesis? The doc for {{Citation}} doesn't cover this. –Unint 02:35, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

WP:CITET has a collection; you're looking for {{cite paper}} --Haemo 02:49, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

why i cannot edit wikipedia?

why in school i can edit wikipedia, but at home cannot edit wikipedia? using operator on win98. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 166.121.36.232 (talk) 03:14, August 20, 2007 (UTC)

Possibly your IP address at home is blocked from editing (happens sometimes, due to abuse, and shared IPs are more common than most people think). Although usually it's the school address that's more likely to be blocked than the home one, I think. I can't give a more specific answer without knowing more information (specifically, the affected IP address would be a start). – Luna Santin (talk) 06:35, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

how to upload cover art for an album

i clicked the upload this picture, and then pressed cover art as the sort of picture it is. and well its uploaded, i made an excuse for the licesing. and well. it doesnt show up on the polyserena page :S —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mr.diego (talk • contribs) 03:16, August 20, 2007 (UTC).

What happened was that you needed to add the image in to the article. I already did this for you here. See WP:IMAGE for more info on what to do in the future. --_Hdt83 _Chat 03:21, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How big is the database?

I am curious how many Terabytes/Petrabytes of information there is located on the servers of Wikipedia. Thanks a lot. (email removed) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 12.206.217.171 (talk) 06:25, August 20, 2007 (UTC)

See: Wikipedia:Technical FAQ#How big is the database?. --Teratornis 06:29, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Also see terabyte and petabyte, the latter not to be confused with Petra and byte. --Teratornis 06:30, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Question about notability

Someone has just added a whole host of people without articles to Wycombe Abbey (a public school in Bucks) here: comparison of revisions. Are British nobility automatically notable enough to appear in articles? Seeing as this is a top school in the UK one would expect a fair few notable people to attend, however this just seems overkill. -- Roleplayer 07:59, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure if there's a policy on this, but in these circumstances I have tended to include people with a Wikipedia article and remove the rest. It throws up issues with systemic bias but it works reasonably well. --Cherry blossom tree 10:00, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

article assignment to a portal

How does this work, and how does an article become reassigned from portal to portal?--Mrg3105 08:14, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure what you mean. There are no restrictions on how many portals an article can feature on. The procedures for changing portals vary. Try commenting on the talk page and if that doesn't get a response, just add something yourself. --Cherry blossom tree 10:05, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The talk page says "This article is part of WikiProject...". How does that happen, and how can it be removed from the project?--Mrg3105 10:57, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If an article is obviously not part of that Wikiproject then you simply need to edit the talk page and remove the {{WikiProject Cricket}} or whatever is on there. --Cherry blossom tree 13:03, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the advice. Done. I really must learn more about editing, but there is so much to fix!--Mrg3105 13:18, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Login Problem

Dear wikipedia,

Tried to sign up, but system is asking for enbling cookies.

Could you please tell us why wikipedia is asking to change members personal computer settings for wikipedia? Why not wikipedia change its settings for all others?

We do not want to change our computer settings.

Member id : sahzzam (signed up or not, no Idea)

Best Regards

(email removed) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 62.150.135.83 (talk) 09:14, August 20, 2007 (UTC)

Cookies are required to store the login data on your computer, so you remain logged in every time you change to a different page. There is no other way around this. Wikipedia cannot change the settings on the server, as this would not make any difference, and would probabally cause more problems than it solves. Sorry, but to log in, you will have to enable cookies in your browser. Many other websites which use login facilities also use cookies in the same way. :-) Stwalkerster talk 09:23, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You may also want to take a look at the relevant part of the Technical FAQ:-) Stwalkerster talk 09:29, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Voting for deletion

Are there any requisites to be able to vote pro or against an article deletion, e.g. a certain number of edits, or the fact of being a Wikipedia registered user is already enough? --Outspan 09:31, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There are no pre-requisites to voice your opinion at Articles for Deletion. It helps to cite policies or guidelines to back up your opinion. Cheers Kevin 09:51, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No prerequisites, but please remember that a deletion debate is not a numerical vote. Arguments based on policies, guidelines, and other established consensus count for far more than a simple vote. An account with few edits might get marked as a single-purpose account, if sock-puppetry is suspected. This would further decrease the subjective value of a vote. --Pekaje 10:33, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Scope in uploading pictures

What's the difference between Special:Upload and uploading a pic via Commons? What should I do to set the scope as global (not just a local edition of Wikipedia), e.g. if I want to use a pic for an English article I'm translating from Italian where the Italian version has the pic but I can't reach it from the English version? I don't have to upload the pic twice, do I? I also noticed some people have a personal pic in their user page, then is it allowed to download such pics even if they're not useful for the purposes of an encyclopedia? How and where should I upload those kinds of pictures? thanks --Outspan 10:58, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If you upload an image here via Special:Upload then it can only be accessed on the English Wikipedia. If you want an image to be available on more than one project then you can upload it to Commons, if it is under a free licence. If there is an image on the Italian Wikipedia (not on Commons) then you will have to upload it either here or at Commons in order to use it here. You can upload pictures for your user page in the usual way even if they are not useful for the encyclopaedia (within reason.) --Cherry blossom tree 13:10, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Pictures uploaded to Commons must first of all have a free license. Any picture there is immediately available to just about every wiki project. A local file with the same name will (IIRC) overrule the commons file, though. Otherwise they are used in exactly the same way. If the picture you're talking about is free, there might be some procedure on the Italian language Wikipedia for deleting images that have been moved to Commons (here it is speedy deletion criterion I8). If the image has a non-free license, then you have no choice but to upload it on every wiki you use it on, and if it is for the English language Wikipedia, then you must also provide a fair use rationale. It is generally considered acceptable to upload a minor amount of free content for use on ones user-space pages. If it is not particularly encyclopedic, then don't upload it to Commons. Also note that fair-use material on pages in user-space is strictly against policy. --Pekaje 13:12, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

mass

when a car drive pass on 300km/h and carry 29tones how many mass is in the car? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 124.183.7.50 (talk) 11:11, August 20, 2007 (UTC)

You may be looking for the science reference desk. This is for general help on using Wikipedia. --Pekaje 13:15, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Delocalization

14:21, 20 August 2007 (UTC)81.199.178.42

Do you have a question? PrimeHunter 14:25, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How do I create an article?

How do I create an article? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Kullboy12 (talk • contribs) 14:21, August 20, 2007 (UTC).

Before creating an article, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.

Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.

If you still think an article is appropriate, see Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. PrimeHunter 14:25, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I've added to your talk page what I hope will be some helpful information, but I see PrimeHunter beat me to the reply here! I'd be happy to also post on your talk page additional helpful links, should you need them. Cheers! ^Ariel♥Gold 14:28, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Fair use dispute tag not picked up by bot?

I tagged some images to dispute the fair use rational about 6 hours ago but they don't seem to be showing up in the disputed fair use list. Have I used the right tag? Am I looking in the right place for the list? The images are, [1] [2] [3] and [4]. As far as I can tell I followed all the relevant instructions. Regards Bksimonb 14:58, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The tagging is fine; you're looking in the wrong place for the list. That list is for images whose fair-use dispute doesn't have a date; yours is correctly dated, so it shows up (correctly) in :Category:Disputed non-free images as of 20 August 2007 and :Category:All disputed non-free images. --ais523 16:33, 20 August 2007 (U T C)

Actually, only one of them was correctly tagged. I took the liberty of adding the date parameter to the remaining three images. As for why they might not show up, there can sometimes be delays when categorization happens through templates. --Pekaje 17:24, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

To find where your tags are showing up, check out the bottom of the image page where it says "Categories." -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 16:39, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

OK thank you all for the help and also for fixing the broken tags. Much appreciated. Regards Bksimonb 18:26, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Please help me amend my client's entry so it does not contain "unbalanced" boxes.

I work for a public relations agency (Edelman) and my client, the law firm Shearman & Sterling, has a Wikipedia entry that has 3 boxes claiming that the entry is "unbalanced," "reads like and advertisement," etc. These boxes were placed because some of the content on the Wikipedia entry was pasted verbatim from the Web site. As far as we're aware, none of its staff is responsible for placing this content. Because we're an interested party, we want to respect Wikipedia's guidelines and not edit the entry to change the tone. We are hoping we can appeal to Wikipedia's volunteer editors to amend the entry as they see fit, so it no longer reads, "unbalanced," etc. I was referred here from the following page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us/Article_problem/Factual_error_%28from_enterprise%29/ If you have any questions, my e-mail address is (removed email). Thank you, Mark —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 12.38.190.9 (talk) 15:01, August 20, 2007 (UTC)

I removed the unsourced material from the article and the copyright violation information from the article. I appreciate your respecting Wikipedia's COI guidelines, but Wikipedia is "the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit." As public relations agency, you might want to consider letting one of you employees spend time learning how to contribute to Wikipedia. If that person adds a sentence to Shearman & Sterling based on information from a reliable source (e.g., usually a newspaper article or book) that is independent of Shearman & Sterling and footnote that sentence, I don't think anyone would delete that sentence merely because it came from a public relations agency. If an article is created of such sentences, I don't think anyone would delete that article merely because it came from a public relations agency. Contributing to Wikipedia is not as straight forward as it seems and typically takes about three months of editing Wikipedia before most people "get it." -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 16:10, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Our software was once in Wikipedia and now its not there

Hi, My name is Morris Gindi, from Creative Manager, Inc. Our software 'Creative Manager Pro' was once in the Wikipedia listings and now I cannot find it. I'm pretty sure that it also used to be listed at List_of_project_management_software. Maybe there was a problem with entry? Maybe it was taken down for a good reason that we're not aware of? Or maybe it was removed by a competitor of ours? Is there a way to find out? What is the next step? Please advise. You can reach me at (email removed). Your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you, Morris Gindi, Creative Manager, Inc. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.0.242.177 (talk) 15:19, August 20, 2007 (UTC)

You may add it back in if you feel the company is noteable enough. And you can look in the History (see top of article) of the article to see when, why and who removed the information. Lra drama 15:21, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

See: WP:WWMPD. --Teratornis 15:40, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Looking at this log, it seems your software's article was deleted last November under the criteria for speedy deletion. This is probably because it was advertising the product rather than objectively describing it. The article List of project management software only includes software with separate Wikipedia articles, so it was probably removed around that time. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 17:22, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Please also see WP:COI. Corvus cornix 17:10, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Editing tools in Wikipedia

Am I missing something? Formatting with different fonts? Typing simple mathematical expressions — f.ex. in classical Times New Roman? Importing such to Wikipedia — without enforced to rewrite? Where is the tool? Retrieved from Wikipedia:Sandbox. --BMJ 16:03, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It is hard to answer your question since it is not clear as to what you are asking, but you might want to review Help:Contents/Editing Wikipedia. Also, Help:Edit toolbar discusses the Wikipedia edit toolbar. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 16:23, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

To use different fonts, enclose the text in  . For example, Example text appears as Example text. You can change the color and size using a similar method: text makes the text red and 120% normal size. However, note that in articles, fonts, colors, and text sizes should be left at their defaults except in special cases. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 16:25, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If you want to enter mathematical expressions, see Help:Math; there's a separate syntax for those, that's more suited to them. --ais523 16:27, 20 August 2007 (U T C)

Oh, and for mathematical expressions, see Help:Displaying a formula. For other kinds of formatting, see Wikipedia:How to edit a page#Wiki markup. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 16:30, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

To a first (and very good) approximation, all the tools are here:

User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia

--Teratornis 18:49, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Oh dear.
I am almost touched to the bone by such an excellent response and interest from even SEVERAL beautiful persons at Wikipedia (I mean our beautiful Planet).
Thank you, thank you, and thank you again.
I am completely new in Wikipedia, so I really appreciate the response. Thank you again.

After my quest (to you all) I made some »private research» in Wikipedia:

FIRST:
Please refer to an imported illustration on the subject showing exactly what I mean and aim at in my initial question;
(I dare not be bold enough to include it here, so I humbly will refer to the talk page Wikipedia has offered to me where the actual picture WIKIDEMO.png

WIKIDEMO.png
(under headline Illustrated Example)

is: please excuse me for not yet being acquainted with all the trixes and mixes of links and how to use them, perhaps making this text more circumstantial than necessary).

And this is — thank you Pyrospirit — where I believe I will have the most useful applicability of your suggestions: just look at the SampleImage named above, and you will see exactly what I meant.
(I will start test your suggestions immediately after this edit).

THEN, from a short gaze at WIKIDEMO.png, YOU COULD SAY: Oh MAN: I SEE YOUR POINT; THIS IS, UNFORTUNATLY, NOT FOR WIKIPEDIA. Sorry lad. Have you tried it on the Moon … You may test me on that, if you want. We are, anyway all here for Wikipedia editing clarity and enjoyment — for Best Readability.

SECOND:
Yes. I have read a whole bunch of the Wikipedia:Help-subjects on editing, including the mathematics part [thank you -- Jreferee (Talk), --ais523, and --Teratornis]
— and it is that which makes me troublesome.

IF, namely, the aim is to SERVE a general Wikipedia reader with an optimal clarity, readability for context and EDITABILITY too, of course, the examples I have seen in Wikipedia, and too the examples shown by the present Wikipedia articles on the "mathematics formatting" articles, really leave a lot for the rest to be whished for. Please refer again to

WIKIDEMO.png
(under headline Illustrated Example)

for an exact scope of my preference, and you will, at a glance, see my point. Saw me, if you like. If my contributions are NOT appreciated, please say it. Neither I am interested in feeding global crap. If it isn't good, it shall be removed.

Mathematics with good readability, included together with normal text as this, should be as EASY to write, as is this text in a normal word processing program: plain text, italic, bold, Symbol, Times New Roman, subscript and superscript, expressions in same line as this, clear, easy to read, easy to edit, change, improve and enhance.
--BMJ 20:52, 21 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Encrypt Password

Hello. How can I encrypt my password when I login to Wikipedia? Thanks in advance. --Mayfare 16:05, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Main_Page is more secure but I don't know the details and I hear it's slower. I have never used it. PrimeHunter 16:29, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure whether you are asking 1. How can I encrypt my password before I login to Wikipedia, 2. How can I encrypt my password as I login to Wikipedia, or 3. How can I encrypt my password after I login to Wikipedia. As you type in your password, each character should show up as a black dot in the password box. Wikipedia:Security provides some information that might be relevant. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 16:32, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hello again. I logged in using the website that PrimeHunter provided. The website was partially encrypted. Whenever I clicked a link except those that are located in the Contents box, a window appears saying that I will view secure and unsecure items. Using PrimeHunter's method is a little slower than conventional logins, but I do not mind. I guess that this method is better.

I would like to encrypt my password so no hacker may read my unencrypted password. I read the Wikipedia:Security article. Thanks Jreferee for separating the question that 70.63.95.73 made from my question. Thanks PrimeHunter and Jreferee. --Mayfare 05:07, 21 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Red link

Why are there so many hyperlinked words or phrases that aren't connected to a wikipedia article? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.63.95.73 (talk) 16:11, August 20, 2007 (UTC)

There are a variety of reasons to red link words or phrases, some of which is discussed at Wikipedia:Red link. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 16:25, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Movement between articles

How do I move a paragraph (I wrote), or move a section (I wrote) of several paragraphs, from an old article to a newly-created article (I'm writing)? My goal is to subdivide a pre-existing, lengthy article into (#1) an older, continuing, main article, and (#2) a short, newer article with a different focus. Dr.Bastedo 17:09, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You can open up two browser windows and have both articles open in edit mode at the same time to cut/paste between them. I don't do that. I have a text editor open (Kate) and I copy/paste my edits to that, then paste them back into Wikipedia when I'm done with them. -- Kainaw^(what?) 17:11, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Summary style. If anybody else has contributed to the text you move then the edit summary when you insert it must say which article it came from. This is required by the GFDL license used by Wikipedia. If you wrote everything yourself then I still recommend saying where it came from. PrimeHunter 17:53, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Comment - It appears that Invertebrate paleontology is the article to which Dr. Bastedo is referring. Its stats may be viewed at Wikipiedia page history statistics. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 20:00, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

automobile

I want to get rid of a 1996 mercury grand marquiz i heard thru a friend that they are offerring up $3000 for cars from 96 down. -- 64.132.1.182 (talk · contribs · logs) 17:20, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, this is Wikipedia's help desk, not a second hand car salesman. AndrewJDTALK -- 17:22, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed. If you have a question about using Wikipedia, feel free to ask, but please don't try to sell your car here. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 17:24, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Background Information Table??

I am making a page for a Solo Acoustic Artist.. How do I make that Background Information Table that I see on most artists' pages.. ?? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ml1136 (talk • contribs) 17:25, August 20, 2007 (UTC).

This may be in reference to the Jonathan Clay article. Jonathanclay.com does not list any newspaper coverage of Jonathan Clay. I did find "U-WIRE. August 30, 2006 Texas State U.-San Marcos: Jonathan Clay finds success in indie music scene" so it is possible that the topic does meet WP:N. Your initial Jonathan Clay article was speedy deleted twice because of lack of content. You first might want to develop the article at User:Ml1136/Jonathan_Clay and then move the developed article to Jonathan Clay. Background Information Tables are at Wikipedia:WikiProject Biography/Infoboxes. Also see Template:Biography. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 17:31, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

External Link I Add Keeps Being Removed

Hi

I added an external link to a page - Mitsubishi Pajero - a few weeks ago and in the last couple of days that link has been removed along with a few others. I tried re-adding and it's been taken down again. The link I'm adding is to my own non-profit blog about this vehicle - Mitsubishi Pajero Blog.

There are two external links that haven't been removed; one to the official Mitsubishi site which is fair enough I suppose and one to a German site which provides information on the Pajero although in rather broken English, but still it's informative. I would class both sites as for-profit (the German site carries Adsense adverts).

So my question is what's wrong with the link to my site over these other two? Am I doing something against policy that the other two sites are not? And who keeps taking down my link?

TIA - TimReal 17:42, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In general, links to blogs will be removed. -- Kainaw^(what?) 17:43, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:External links. It says: "You should avoid linking to a website that you own, maintain or represent, even if the guidelines otherwise imply that it should be linked. If the link is to a relevant and informative site that should otherwise be included, please consider mentioning it on the talk page and let neutral and independent Wikipedia editors decide whether to add it." PrimeHunter 17:58, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Post removed and I don't know why.

Hello, In the discussion part of the biography of Marcial Maciel I made a post with a link to a letter from the 1950s that has recently been published. The letter specifically accuses Maciel of sexual abuse. Many defenders of Maciel say that sexual abuse was not an issue in the investigation into his behaviour in the 1950s, but this letter is a strong indicator to the contrary. I believe the post I made can be read at this link and is entitled Evidence of Sexual Abuse from the 1950s. I would like to know why my post was removed, and I would like to repost it - can I? -- Aronski 17:46, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Background: The Aronski post initially was removed by The Jackal God per WP:SOAPBOX, immediately restored by Scott5834, removed again by The Jackal God, restored by Scott5834, and removed again by The Jackal God. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 18:20, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Aronski: talk pages are meant to be used for discussion about the article itself, rather than the subject matter of the article. (For example: on Talk:Banana, you might discuss the content of the "Storage" section, but not how bananas are tasty.) The post that you added appears to discuss Marcial Maciel himself, rather than the development of the article. (In addition, it appears to "soapbox" against the man, by linking to an advocacy forum.) Adding a post that explains how such facts could contribute to the article's content (while adhering to WP:NPOV and WP:BLP) would be more useful than one that just talks about Maciel. Gracenotes^T § 18:29, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Marcial Maciel is a biography of Marcial Maciel; it is not an article about the "investigation into his behaviour in the 1950s." The letters seem to contain reliable source biography material about Marcial Maciel that could be used in the Marcial Maciel biography article. I think the letters can be used and footnoted in the Marcial Maciel biography article for such a purpose. To avoid problems in using the letters in the article as you propose, you might want to review synthesis of published material serving to advance a position. As for restoring the talk page post, Article talk pages are provided for discussion of the content of articles and the views of reliable published sources. See Wikipedia:Talk page. WP:SOAPBOX doesn't really apply to talk pages. However, Maciel still is living so any posts in Wikipedia about him are subject to WP:BLP. The Marcial Maciel article is not protected, so you might be better off editing the article itself rather than restoring the talk page post. Removing footnoted material from an article usually requires talk page discussion. However, "allegations of ..." and second hand accounts of information might run into trouble even if referenced. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 18:43, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Giuliani's Bio

I'd very much like to have this (or at least a summary, incl the tiger bit :)) added to his bio. It's complete fact, and taken from New York's govt site. Thanks. See Archives of the Mayor's Press Office. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 76.220.249.134 (talk) 17:50, August 20, 2007 (UTC)

That reference contains remarks of Mayor Giuliani that are not independent of Rudy Giuliani, so it may not be a viable source for the Rudy Giuliani article. If some independent newssource picked up on that press release, you can cite that newssource in the Rudy Giuliani article. You can cite that press release in the ferret article, particularly the part about the Mayor of one of the largest cities in the United States equating the permitting of New Yorkers to own, buy and sell domestic ferrets the equivalent of stating that tigers are no longer dangerous and should be legal pets in the City. Also, you might be able to make use of it in the Mayor of New York City article. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 18:07, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How to get back a deleted page?

I had a page deleted because someone thought it would be funny to delete.

1. How to go about getting it back? 2. Do I have to get back from scratch? 3. How many citations do I need?

Thank You, Brian —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.164.166.230 (talk) 18:17, August 20, 2007 (UTC)

What page? -- Kainaw^(what?) 18:46, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

WP:AGF. I doubt if it was deleted because "somebody thought it would be funny to delete." Corvus cornix 15:42, 21 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How do I update an existing image?

There is an image for the flag of my province on Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Nova_Scotia.svg . This image is a rendering of the old flag, and is not 100% accurate. I tried to replace this file with a contemporary version by uploading a file with the same name, but the system told me this file could not be overwritten. I uploaded a new file, but I would still like to replace the old one as hundreds of other pages reference it, and my version has more complete and more accurate copyright information. Can my new version (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Nova_Scotia_Flag.svg) be merged with/replace the old one? --Strategability 18:41, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I asked Kirkoconnell to address this since Kirkoconnell was the one who uploaded Image:Flag of Nova Scotia.svg. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 19:09, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The reason I used the image I have here is because that image is referenced in various articles but was removed due to copyright reasons. I decided to get the image and place the right copyrights. I first looked into ways to redirect to the other Nova Scotia Flag but it did not seem possible. I'm not new to wikipedia but I am new to image uploading. You are more then welcome to do whatever you like with the image. If need be, I can get a copy of the pages that reference it and I can replace that image with yours but I could not get the list until I uploaded an image. -Kirkoconnell 20:04, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Can't get coordinate page up

I recently added the coordinates to the Allan Hancock College (in Santa Maria, CA) article. To make sure these were correct, I clicked on the coordinates so that I could get to that list of map providers. But instead, I got to the Cannot find server page. Why is this? --Nick4404 18:54, 20 August 2007 (UTC) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Nick4404 (talk • contribs) 18:53, August 20, 2007 (UTC).[reply]

I checked out the coordinates link in I-35W Mississippi River bridge, which is not working either. It looks like something is wrong with the http://tools.wikimedia.de/~magnus/geo site. I added Geolinks-US-streetscale to the Allan Hancock College article and the google.com link is working. You might want to give it a few days for someone to fix tools.wikimedia.de. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 19:47, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Creating a New Article

I have been looking for over an hour on where to write a new article for which wikipedia does not have an entry for. please tell me how without using the help website because it is useless and does not direct to a writing template.

Adbontin 19:03, 20 August 2007 (UTC)Adbontin[reply]

See the Very Frequently Asked Questions or Your First Article. -- Kainaw^(what?) 19:05, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

1. Put the name of your article in the search box to the upper left and hit go. 2. Click on the red letters reading "create this page". 3. Post your content in the space below where it says "Articles that do not cite reliable published sources are likely to be deleted." 4. Hit "save page". -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 19:27, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Infobox?

How do I create an Infobox from scratch? I found the "infobox" wiki, but it explained directions as if I had already found a template and knew how to right align it. Can I please get steps from the very beginning? I'm lost. Thanks! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by EChouinard1 (talk • contribs) 19:07, August 20, 2007 (UTC).

An Infobox merely is a template. Template creation discusses creating templates from scratch. Template:Infobox Broadcast is a good example of an Infobox template that you might use in creating your Infobox. Also take a look at Category:Television_infobox_templates. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 19:17, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Creating a Bio Page

Is there a template I can use to create a page such as Desiree Summers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desiree_Summers has of herself? Thanks, Dale Fletcher 19:36, 20 August 2007 (UTC)Dale[reply]

Try Template:Biography. -- Jreferee ^(Talk) 19:50, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Where can I get more information about these double-bracket icon link thingies?

I've come across a bunch of icon flag symbols, invoked by using double brackets. Here is an example: United Kingdom

Where can I get more information about this construct?

Where can I get a list of all the available icons?

Thanks in advance!

(PS: By the way, the link on the Help Desk page leading to some search tool on a German website does not work today. The one where the Help Desk page says "Search FAQ first")

Carl Gusler 19:57, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The double brackets are templates, which act as shortcuts do insert pre-defined images and text into a page. You can find a list of the flag icon templates at Category:Flag templates. - SigmaEpsilon → ΣΕ 20:36, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The "Search FAQ" tool seems to be working (for me anyway) now. DH85868993 02:47, 21 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

missing preferences link

hello i need some help. I just signed up for an account and was fooling around with the preferences to set skins and colours. Meanwhile, I hit something by mistake and the tool bar link which contains the link to "my preferences" which in turn contain links to edit "skin" etc has disappeared from my page. Could you kindl restore this to default. My user id is nandiniriyer and my email id is nandiniriyer@gmail.com. I would be grateful if you could inform me by mail as I'm unable to navigate the page any longer. thanks a bunch and sorry about the inconvenience. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Nandiniriyer (talk • contribs).

Okay here we go. Log on and type in Special:Preferences. Once you get there go to "skin" and select the default setting monobook.js. Refresh your page and the preferences tab should have returned. Hope that helps. --Tλε Rαnδom Eδιτor (tαlk) 22:25, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Actions enabled over time

So, If I got it right, I'm enabled to move pages only 4 days after I've created an user account. Are there other actions that are enabled only when a certain amount of time from account creation has passed? -- Outspan [talk · contribs] 20:29, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You can edit semi-protected pages after 5 days.--Max Talk (+) 20:41, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No Max, that is four days, the same as page moves. Prodego ^talk 04:16, 21 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, ok I see. And then, that's it? :) -- Outspan [talk · contribs] 20:47, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You also get access to the secret wiki-egg salad recipe (; --69.118.235.97 21:42, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Some Wikipedia:Elections require an account created a certain time before the election. Wikipedia:Why create an account? mentions other benefits that are not based on time of account. PrimeHunter 00:40, 21 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

AFD...

Hi, can users who are not registered, take part in an AFD debate? Thenthornthing 21:22, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, but the usual restrictions of reasoned argument being worth more than "delete --~~~~Insert non-formatted text here" tend to be more strictly applied to unregistered and very newly registered users. There is obviously no reason to discount a valid argument just because of who made it. --Cherry blossom tree 21:27, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I would also like to think that a well thought out argument from an anon in good standing would be taken seriously. --69.118.235.97 21:30, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

So would this be considered a valid argument: "Speedy keep notable enough... too big to merge, and too notable to delete. --84.45.219.185 10:09, 20 August 2007 (UTC)" Cheers Thenthornthing 21:34, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No, it's not valid. The IP provides no proof that it is notable, unless, of course, it is already stated in the discussion. --Boricuaeddie 22:01, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This is a link to that discussion, for anyone who is interested--69.118.235.97 22:04, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In that specific AfD, that could be considered a valid comment. --Boricuaeddie 22:11, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

contestant on national television

Can someone get a wikipedia if they were a contestant on a gameshow and won money? what if it can be proved? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Jimmyk1006 (talk • contribs).

No, gameshow contestants are generally not considered notable for just that. If the person is notable for something else, then it might be worth a sentence in their article. --Pekaje 22:18, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

(ec) Already answered on your talk page. BTW, the answer is depending on how far they got and if they received a lot of media coverage. --Boricuaeddie 22:19, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 August 20