Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 December 3

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December 3

about australia

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.177.110.134 (talk) 00:59, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but what is your question? The helpdesk is only for questions about editing; the Reference desk will help you with factual questions. NF24^{(radio me!)} 01:24, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Can someone take a quick look at an article I just created?

Hi there, I've just created my first Wikipedia article, Archipelagos (computer game) after noticing there wasn't an entry for it. Would someone like to take a quick look over it and make sure I haven't done anything stupid? I've tried to stick as as best as possible to all the Wikipedia rules that I'm aware of, but I'm still rather new at this. Also, I'm interested in creating/editing more video game articles, and I gather there's some kind of project or group for doing this - how do I go about getting involved? Thanks --Monorail Cat 01:33, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Nice article. Well sectioned. Needs more wikilinks and in text citations. Dr.K. 01:40, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for your feedback. I've wikified the terms that seemed to need it, and added citations for the review scores I quoted. --Monorail Cat 02:09, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Great work. Take care. Dr.K. 03:11, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

For the video-game project, try WikiProject_Council/Directory/Culture/Games. (Well, that link doesn't work — I probably did it wrong — but I'm sure you can find it.) Sincerely, GeorgeLouis 03:46, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Try Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Directory/Culture/Games. – ABCD✉ 03:55, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

I found them at Wikipedia:WikiProject_Video_games thanks :) --Monorail Cat 22:16, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Block request

User:Togokill‎ has been vandalizing many many times lately, has declared himself to be a sock puppet, and someone needs to deal with this. -Theanphibian ^{(talk • contribs)} 01:49, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

You should make vandalism reports at WP:AIV, sockpuppet reports at WP:SSP, and complex abuse alerts at WP:ANI. The Help Desk isn't the best place for these. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 02:00, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, that's actually why I posted here, to find out where these requests go. -Theanphibian ^{(talk • contribs)} 02:43, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

web pages

How do I or is it possible for me to create a subject like put Colette Pansy on here as a compatible subject or something on the lines of thatZuluPrincess 02:15, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

You can make a new article or category. Other than that I'm not sure what you're asking. -Theanphibian ^{(talk • contribs)} 02:44, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

If this is about creating a new Wikipedia article:

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 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 03:10, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Templates?

Is there a help page for template creation. Thx. Stupid2 03:05, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

See Help:Template and Help:Advanced templates. And Wikipedia:Requested templates may also be of interest. PrimeHunter 03:08, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Lots more information is here: WP:EIW#Template. What kind of template do you want to create? Wikipedia has thousands already (see: Category:Template categories). We can help you search for an existing template that does what you want, or is close enough to make a good starting point for your editing. But we need to know what kind of template you need. --Teratornis 08:12, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

origin/ethnicity

is there something for userpages to show ur from a specific country? I would like a little box that says that i'm from colombia with a pic of the colombian flag to the left. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dlo2012 (talk • contribs) 03:09, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

{{User Colombia}} has a combination of map and flag. PrimeHunter 03:13, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

And it places you in Category:Colombian Wikipedians. PrimeHunter 03:16, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

speedy deltion? i havent vandilised

a mesage on my article has popped up saying i've vandilised but i haven't. i've put ((hangon)) under the mesage but what do i do now? Note that i did copy from a word document that i made so is that the problem? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sir namu (talk • contribs) 06:50, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Demon rabbit? Wikipedia is not for things made up one day. Don't make pages like that anymore, okay? GlassCobra 07:03, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

creating article in persian language

dear

how i can create persian(farsi) article in wiki???

tnx <e-mail removed> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.191.83.34 (talk) 08:09, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Please see the Persian Wikipedia. --Teratornis 08:13, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Also, please don't post your e-mail address here. It's a busy page and may attract spam. Raven4x4x 09:36, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Options for possible content dispute?

I wanted to ask for some advice about G. Harrold Carswell. I came across it yesterday, while participating in the Military History Assessment drive. Having read the article, I reverted the addition of a large block of unformatted, unsourced text which contained (in a direct address to readers and essay-like format), the assertion that the subject had murdered someone [1]. I left a note on the talk page explaining my reasons, and that I had no problems with the content, only that it was unsourced and poorly written and formatted.

Today, the text has been re-added (this time claiming to be from court records, but with no citation information). The final sentence is: "The one inescapable conclusion here is that only one man directly benefited from the gay man's murder: Carswell. Those who benefited indirectly are self evident." which is hardly encyclopedic. I also got a message from the editor implying that I have some underhanded motive for reverting. They've clearly got a bit of a bee in their bonnet about this, and possibly aren't entirely clear on how WP works. I've replied, but I've not sure where to go from here. It's not a BLP issue, as the person is dead. A Request for Comment (which is suggested for "general content disputes regarding biographical articles") seems heavy-handed. Normally, I'd ask for a third opinion, but I'm not sure that would be effective in this case. The text has already been removed and re-added a couple of times, and I don't want to get into some kind of edit war. I haven't really been involved in any kind of content dispute before - are there any other options to try? --Kateshortforbob 10:16, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Content RFCs are pretty simple and lightweight (as opposed to user conduct RFCs, which are a somewhat heavy-handed process); they're a step up from a third opinion, in that you generally get fourth, fifth and sixth opinions as well. You might want to see Wikipedia:Dispute resolution for a list of the available options for resolving disputes, especially the Step 6 section (which appears to be the stage you're at at the moment). --ais523 10:27, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the help, Ais523. Looks like a content RFC is the way to go after all - most of the ones I've seen have been user RFCs, which are a bit intimidating. Thanks again! --Kateshortforbob 16:44, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

anonymous edits

The majority of edits to Hydrogen_Economy are now coming from anonymous users, mostly from a few IPs. Short of protecting the article from unregistered users, what might be done to get people on record? PotomacFever 10:54, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Editing by unregistered users is allowed and not by itself a reason for semi-protection or other action. Is there a problem with extensive vandalism by unregistered users? PrimeHunter 12:44, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

There's outright vandalism, yes, about six times in the past month. The systematic changes are also a problem, in my view. I see it as twofold: First, the process: there's no talk board discussion, and issues we thought we dealt with on the talk board are now being rehashed. The latter has been pointed out by User:Mion on the article talk page. There's a little bit of talk from the anonymous users (e.g., user 199.125.109.XX seeTalk:Hydrogen_economy#Primary_purpose) but it's mainly to accuse corporations of criminality and the like. Such users don't employ user talk pages to facilitate one-on-one discussion. Second, the product: the article is becoming POV whereas before we had confined it to engineering and economics.PotomacFever 09:04, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

You can greet the anonymous editors with {{subst:Welcome-anon}} or another of the welcome templates that encourages registering an account :) — Ksero (leave me a message, things I've done) 16:46, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. Will leaving a greeting on a talk page work if their IP is dynamic? Offhand I'd say no since there is not a unique user:talk page. See Talk:Hydrogen_economy#Primary_purpose; the same person has three IPs in one discussion. PotomacFever 09:04, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

A user with dynamic IP may not see a greeting, especially if it's added long after their latest edit. Page protection can be requested at Wikipedia:Requests for page protection, but 6 vandalisms in a month is unfortunately not much for a Wikipedia article. PrimeHunter 16:54, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

St Josephs College Banora Point vandalism report please act NOW

URGENT Please remove all the information regarding St Josephs College Banora Point from Wikipedia. Due to the increasing number of false statements being made, including those statements added by SteveMcQueenBees on 27th November 2007.

We have a great concerns regarding the easy access by people unknown to make false remarks which leave us open to legal action as has occurred in the past and is currently threatened

Please attend to this as soon as possible.

Regards, Paula Mcloughlin

On behalf of the College Principal Mr Peter Mcloughlin —Preceding unsigned comment added by Paula mcloughlin (talk • contribs) 10:56, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Hello Paula. As you have now been told on your talk page, if you want to have an article deleted, you need to request this the articles for deletion. However, articles are not deleted purely on the basis that they are sometimes vandalized or that they have inaccuracies inserted, whether deliberately or not. The changes made by SteveMcQueenBees are no longer in the article in any case. I have added St. Joseph's College, Tweed Heads to my watchlist (and I hope a couple of others who see this will do so too) to keep an eye open for any further problems. In the meantime, removing sections of the article as it currently stands does not seem to be warranted, and your changes have been undone. Regards, Bencherlite^Talk 11:23, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Well I'm baffled. I can't find any contributions by User:SteveMcQueenBees and the St. Joseph's College, Tweed Heads article was not changed between 9 October and today's edits. Today's edits could be summarised as vandalism (including page blanking) by two Australian IP addresses and User:Paula mcloughlin. Is this request for deletion genuine? Astronaut 13:55, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

The offending edits have been deleted now, not just reverted, hence they no longer appear in the page history (but can still be seen by admins). Bencherlite^Talk 14:13, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the info, but I'm still baffled. I can't see your link about deleted edits (some permission error because I'm not an admininstator) and User:SteveMcQueenBees doesn't exist, has nade no contributions, and the user logs are empty. Sorry to sound sceptical, but what's going on? Astronaut 14:33, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

I'm not an administrator but I found User:SteveMcQueenBeeg with 'g' at the end in [2], and User talk:SteveMcQueenBeeg shows that's the one. Unfortunately a huge number of people come to the help desk and give no name or a wrong name (usually for the article they want help with). PrimeHunter 14:49, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Ah! All becomes clear. Sometimes my skeptical side takes over :-). But, I've been here long enough to know that leaving out info often happens and I should have looked at the ListUsers function. Thanks PrimeHunter. Astronaut 15:35, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

conflict of interest in a WP bio

My question is about who should/should not edit a biography WP article. I encountered an instance in which most edits were made, and are still being made, by the best man from the subject's wedding. OK? PotomacFever 11:12, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Editing by someone with a conflict of interest is discouraged. Which article are you concerned about? Astronaut 13:58, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks very much I really appreciate your interest. Yes, I too thought such a practice would be discouraged after reading the policy, but when I pointed out the COI I got no support. Article in question is here. The same editor who wrote most of the article was best man at the subject's wedding[3]. I've tried to add some balance to the article but it gets reverted. Perhaps more bothersome is that this user is adding links, quotes, and references to the subject's books in numerous other articles (e.g., hydrogen). PotomacFever 09:23, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Uluru

Uluru has a table which is badly broken. Can someone fix it? -Oreo Priest 11:59, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

It wasn't a table, it was the {{convert}} template. It didn't like the negative integer, so I wrote it out manually. It is fixed now. Woodym555 12:18, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Problem Uploading a jpg Image

I am still trying to upload an image to improve the Wiki article on C.W. Leadbeater, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Webster_Leadbeater. Presuming this 1914 photograph is in the public domain, my source file is www.spiritwritings.com/cwleadbeater.jpg. The Wikimedia Commons file name I tried to give it was CWLeadbeater.jpg. I keyed in the source and licence information, then clicked on Upload File, but nothing happened. I went back to Edit the Wiki article page, keyed in "[[Image:wiki.pngCWLeadbeater.jpg|thumbnail|right|Charles Webster Leadbeater in 1914]]"

File:Wiki.pngCWLeadbeater.jpg

Charles Webster Leadbeater in 1914

, clicked on Show Preview, but no image came up, only a repeat upload screen with the same null result. —Preceding unsigned comment added by RAmesbury (talk • contribs)

Perhaps try again without a "." after Wiki - it probably makes the software think that the rest is a file extension! Bencherlite^Talk 12:16, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Are you downloading it to your hard disk before uploading? You can include the URL source www.spiritwritings.com/cwleadbeater.jpg in the summary field. PrimeHunter 12:38, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

• You should've entered: "[[Image:CWLeadbeater.jpg|thumbnail|right|Charles Webster Leadbeater in 1914]]" without the "wiki.png" inserted. I think the upload itself failed because you wanted to upload the file from another website rather than your own harddrive. Try dowloading the image and then uploading it with the browse button. - 131.211.161.119 14:01, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Sheepskin

78.145.121.89 12:21, 3 December 2007 (UTC) I have a sheepskin,bought abroad,how can I get rid of the sheepy smell & also soften the leather back?

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. PrimeHunter 12:40, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

computer networking

Godfrey2 14:23, 3 December 2007 (UTC)advantages of computer networking in learning institutions

This help desk is for questions regarding using Wikipedia. For general knowledge and research type questions, please see the reference desk. Dismas|^(talk) 14:30, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Contacting fellow contributors

Hi There,

I am a member of wikipedia. It is great and I also donate money!

Quick question: Is there a way to contact a fellow contributor if I have the cont's wiki name?

Thanks,

Brendan

(email removed to protect you from spam)—Preceding unsigned comment added by Bmcclean1 (talk • contribs) 14:27, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Answered on User talk:Bmcclean1, so as to give an example at the same time as answering the question. --ais523 14:32, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Creating maps

How can I create a world map that is colored to my specifications? For instance, something like this one [4] but with my own colors per country. -- CoolGuy 15:34, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Use an image editor. It's best to use SVG files for maps, so you could use a program like Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape. See http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Blank_SVG_maps_of_the_world for images you can start from to change the color of countries on. —Random832 16:28, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

__NOEDITSECTION__

I have discovered that there seems to be no "antidote" to the "__NOEDITSECTION__" magic word. ("__EDITSECTION__" does not work). On my user talk page I wish to disable the "edit" button from showing next to the very first section, but then turn display on again for subsequent sections. Any help or advice gratefully received! Alice.S 15:48, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

I don't believe this is possible. The magic words turn them all off or all on, there's no middle ground. Sorry. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 18:25, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Yes, that's the problem. I was hoping that some kind and knowledgeable HTML wizard would come galloping to my rescue with suitable code. Please tell me on my talk page if there is a solution? Alice.S 19:08, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

• If you fake the section heading in your first section with size, bolding and all that of the font, you won't need to make an actual section, which means there won't be an edit link there either. - 131.211.161.123 13:53, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

And it also won't be in the table of contents. PrimeHunter 16:42, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Problem Uploading Picture to Wiki Article

I am still trying to upload a public domain photo from www.spiritwriting.com/cwleadbeater.jpg to Wiki article en.wikipedia.org/Charles_Webster_Leadbeater. I tried downloading this first to my hard drive, as suggested, but I could not save it to My Pictures (Windows XP)in jpg format. On My Pictures the Paste icon is not enabled to save it in jpg. I can download and save it to a Word file but then I would lose the jpg format when I try to save it. How do I down load this image without loosing its jpg format so I can upload it to Wikimedia Commons, and from there to the article? RAmesbury 16:27, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

That site is not working for me, but my guess is that if you cannot save the image that's probably because the site's webmaster hasn't enabled this, which means that he doesn't want the picture to be taken from his site. If the image really REALLY is in the public domain you can always take a screenshot, paste in paint, cut, save as .jpg, upload at wiki. -Yamanbaiia 16:36, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Please give some details. What is a screenshot? And how does one "paste and paint?" —Preceding unsigned comment added by RAmesbury (talk • contribs) 18:58, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

See:

• Screenshot
• WP:EIW#Image
• Help:Images and other uploaded files
• Help:Image page
• Wikipedia:Picture tutorial
• User:Smurrayinchester/Tutorial/Images

--Teratornis 23:20, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Wiktionary =spell-check dictionary?

Can Wiktionary be used to create a list of words to use as a spell-check dictionary? --Seans Potato Business 17:30, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

You'd be better off asking at Wiktionary, but as with Wikipedia, Wiktionary shouldn't be regarded as 100% accurate 100% of the time, and may not be complete. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 18:23, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

uss heritage(ap-54)

—72.90.55.226 18:22, 3 December 2007 (UTC)photo

Did you have a question? Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 18:23, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

uss heritage(ap-54)

help me photos?joe massey —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.90.55.226 (talk) 18:26, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

We don't appear to have an article on the USS Heritage, however if you explain your question more clearly at the Reference desk, they may be able to assist you. The Help Desk is here to help you use Wikipedia, not search for information or photos. Searching the Wikimedia Commons may also produce some photos for you. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 18:40, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Update: We do have a short article on the SS Conte Biancamano, which was renamed as the USS Hermitage AP-54 in World War II. There are no images on the page. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 18:41, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Problem Downloading to Upload to a Wiki Article

I am still trying to upload a public domain photo from www.spiritwritings.com/cwleadbeater.jpg to Wiki article en.wikipedia.org/Charles_Webster_Leadbeater. I tried downloading this first to my hard drive, as suggested, but I could not save it to My Pictures (Windows XP)in jpg format. On My Pictures the Paste icon is not enabled to save it in jpg. I can download and save it to a Word file but then I would lose the jpg format when I try to save it. How do I down load this image without loosing its jpg format so I can upload it to Wikimedia Commons, and from there to the article? RAmesbury 16:27, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

That site is not working for me, but my guess is that if you cannot save the image that's probably because the site's webmaster hasn't enabled this, which means that he doesn't want the picture to be taken from his site. If the image really REALLY is in the public domain you can always take a screenshot, paste in paint, cut, save as .jpg, upload at wiki. -Yamanbaiia 16:36, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

The site is working now. I just tried it. Please give some details. What is a screenshot? And how does one "paste and paint?" RAmesbury 19:04, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

• Yamanbaiia said "paste in paint"; (s)he was referring to Microsoft Paint a drawing program. You can use the Prt Scr button on your keyboard to make the computer store (copy) the image on the screen on the clipboard and then use the paste command in the edit menu of any drawing program. You can use the drawing program, to remove unused space and save the actual image. - Mgm|^(talk) 20:51, 3 December 2007 (UTC)
• I've downloaded the image and emailed RAmesbury asking for their email, so I can send it to them. - Mgm|^(talk) 20:51, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

multilingual

Hi!

2 quick question that I can't find replies to:

a) Am I only logged in as a user in ONE language???

b) Should I put "all languages" on the same page or should I log in to different languages?

Thanks a million for help!

Natalia Kim email address removed to protect your privacy

or Nataliakim (login in Spanish) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.210.12.94 (talk) 19:26, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

At present, each Wikipedia is separate. You have a separate identity with each one, and must sign in separately to each one. --Orange Mike | Talk 19:54, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Template problem with NJSchoolDistrict

I had created Template:NJSchoolDistrict, which was intended to display information about school districts in New Jersey. It works great (for the most part), but there are some stray numbers that appear in both the table and the body of the article. This can be best seen at Teaneck Public Schools. I have all of the data available via download to add to the other 600+ school districts in the state, but I have never been able to address the problem. Can anyone help with this one? Alansohn 19:29, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Fixed. You were missing some <td> tags in a few places. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 20:25, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

History may have gotten detached from articles during series of moves

((brought over from my talk page)) ...in the shifting article names for List of organizations for women writers, somehow the history is now attached to List of organizations for female writers, and the talk page is with women, or maybe I've got it backwards, but I think you get my drift. There is confusion in them thar articles. O great and powerful administrator[s], help? --Lquilter 19:48, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Matthew Proctor moved List of organizations for women writers to List of organizations for female writers. Portia1780 later made a cut-and-paste move back to List of organizations for women writers. I see no sign any of them ever had a talk page. Cut-and-paste moves are bad because the history is not kept. You can request a fix at Wikipedia:Cut and paste move repair holding pen. It's similar to an entry already there about List of female writers and List of women writers. PrimeHunter 00:34, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

I have made the request at Wikipedia:Cut and paste move repair holding pen#New requests. PrimeHunter 16:20, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Radio Format Question

76.118.247.91 19:58, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

• Suppose there's a CHR/Hot AC hybrid Pop radio station that has an extremely extensive playlist. Like, suppose such an eccentric format were reported in the radio station's website. How would one label the format in the info-box at the top right of the page? For example, if the station included, at random at any time, any of the Billboard 200 hits from all years of the 1990s through the present but also featured the more recent songs but than also did album cuts from the currently-popular Pop artists? Songs that standard CHR or Hot AC stations don't play. Suppose this was stated in the station's website? How would this wacky format be labeled on the info-box at the top of the page? For one thing, this does not sound like "Top 40". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.118.247.91 (talk • contribs)

I'd probably just tag it "eclectic: see article"! --Orange Mike | Talk 20:11, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

BetacommandBot - What now?

BetacommandBot hit some images for which I had given insufficient fair-use rationales. What now? I've started to change the rationales to be in compliance with Wiki standards. Do I delete the "disputed fair use" template? Will the image page be revisited by a human before this bot deletes the image? Is there anyway to trigger a review to get further comment on the updated fair-use rationale? Is there a human editor to discuss these things with or are we at the mercy of bots? Thanks in advance. Vantelimus 20:07, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

• The bot is run by User:Betacommand and you should take any issues up with this operator. Can you link to the images? Maybe there is something wrong other editors can fix. - Mgm|^(talk) 20:18, 3 December 2007 (UTC)
• Also, the bot apparently doesn't delete anything (I didn't find anything in the deletion log. So deletion will involve evaluation by a human editr. - Mgm|^(talk) 20:20, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

copyright not expired in the US?

I believe that free use, not fair use, is appropriate for DYK hooks (did you know). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:C-H_Laverdiere.jpg does not indicate if copyright is still valid in the United States, where WP servers are located. Even if the photo is from the 1800's, if it was first published after 1923, it could be still copyrighted. Even if the Canadian copyright is expired, the US one may not be. Please advice or comment.

In the interim, I've kept the DYK hook (which will be on the main page soon) but temporarily removed the photo. I've notified the article author, too. Archtransit 20:12, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

• The source site apparently shows that this is part of a book, so I believe this was in fact part of a book around the same period, so probably older than 50 years -- clearly in the public domain by the tag. If you remove the image, please make sure you replace it with another one of one of the other items. - Mgm|^(talk) 20:23, 3 December 2007 (UTC)
  • As above. Thanks for asking before using. — Rudget _{contributions} 20:33, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Trying to tag an un-notable page

I keep tagging the page of an unsigned band that I believe to be un-notable. However, the page's creator keeps simply deleting the tag. What should be done in this instance?

For reference, the page is The Idlers (band) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Petemella (talk • contribs) 20:44, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

I took a look at the article, and I agree that it doesn't seem to be notable, so I'm starting an AfD discussion on it. This should resolve the issue one way or another. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 21:11, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Is this OR?

I found 3 sources of equally high crediblitiy for an article, and each conflicts with the others. But I cannot find a source pointing out the confliction. Is it original research to say "Sources conflict on this subject, one says this, one says that and one says this"? Cigraphix 18:49, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

As long as you provide the sources, I don't think a simple statement that sources conflict is OR. Going any further into it than stating this fact could be OR, though. Pyrospirit (talk · contribs) 21:02, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

As long as you cite what each source says, you should be fine. For example, "Sources conflict on this subject; source a says viewpoint 1^[cite], whereas source b says viewpoint 2^[cite]". Wait a bit longer, as I'm not 100% on this, and I wouldn't want you to take my advice just to see it contradicted a few minutes later.

(After edit conflict) Seems I'm saying the same thing as Pyro above. Just don't go any further and you should be fine. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 21:04, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

(edit conflicts) It depends, for example on how obvious the conflict is. Wikipedia:Neutral point of view allows to mention different claims in a neutral way but they don't necessarily have to be called "conflicting". What is the article and what do the sources say? PrimeHunter 21:05, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

It is a characters' speed comparison: two starring characters from the same brand, both rivals to each other, each of the sources are from the company that makes them. There are also more sources that can be used: One source says one character is faster, two sources say the other character is faster, most others (more than three) say they are equal. The conflict is obvious. Cigraphix 21:40, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

I'd advise more or less what Pyro and Hersfold do: explicitly saying, "DC has published contradictory assertions at different times: some that say The Flash is faster; that say Superman is faster; and that say you can't tell; but of course, the past and present may be retconned at any time"; with cites for each assertion. --Orange Mike | Talk 21:44, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

More context is needed to judge it; like the article and what exactly the sources said where. I don't even know whether the sources are official story lines or somebody elses claims. There are often apparent inconsistencies in long-running fictional works, especially a franchise without a single author like Sonic the Hedgehog. Sometimes a more or less sensible explanation is given later (and a character may not have a fixed speed so it may not be conflicting if two characters shift lead in races). The word "conflict" hints somebody is wrong and I would be careful with using it. PrimeHunter 23:11, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

November 19 archive link brings up November 25 questions?

They look like the same questions, but it says "November 25". All but the last question apparently were asked on November 19.

I was getting ready to ask a question about that last November 25 question. No one answered it, so I did. So the question is how to let the person know I did.Vchimpanzee 21:32, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

The date heading in the first section of Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 November 19 was changed in [5] with no reason. I have changed it back. Was that the problem? If you answer an archived question after 8 days like in [6] then I recommend posting to the users talk page instead. PrimeHunter 23:34, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Wiki Etiquette

Thanks folks. I finally managed to upload that jpg web photo of CW Leadbeater to en.wikipedia.org/Charles_Webster_Leadbeater, although I had to ask a Microsoft technician how to do it by using Paint. This photo is public domain so don't anyone delete it. Now that I can move on to text editing, is there a discussion page on which editors of each Wiki article can communicate with each other. I would like to give notice that I intend to make certain changes to improve the text to invite opinions about same before doing so as a courtesy to the other people who have contributed to this article. Thanks again. RAmesbury 21:33, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Such discussion would go on at Talk:Charles Webster Leadbeater. --Orange Mike | Talk 21:40, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Editing the article "methanol economy"

I tried to edit the first paragraph of the article concerning the "methanol economy". When I click on the first edit button on the page it goes to "synthesis" which is the second paragraph in the article. How can I edit the first paragraph?

Thank you in Advance for your help —Preceding unsigned comment added by Goepy (talk • contribs) 22:49, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Click the "edit this page" tab at the top. The first part is called the lead or section 0. PrimeHunter 23:55, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

This may also be of interest: WP:SECT#Editing_before_the_first_section --Kudret abi^Talk 22:42, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

Editing with mathematical formulas

I did try to edit following an invitation (Wave Equation). My attempt brought up garbige on the preview. What is the math language? What are the rules?

AltSci 22:55, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

It's a subset of TeX, with some extensions. See Help:Displaying a formula. PrimeHunter 23:38, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Wikitable formatting

I want to drop a whole bunch of data from Microsoft Excel into a wikitable. However, as I understand wikitables between each Excel row I must add a line with "|-". Is there a combination of characters that could be used on a single line to preceed my data to substitute for the syntax which requires a separate line with these characters?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 22:59, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Maybe Wikipedia:Tools#Importing (converting) content from other formats to Wikipedia (MediaWiki) format is of help. I haven't tried it. PrimeHunter 23:42, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 01:45, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Why is there a padlock?

I'm new to this and have just created the page The Gift of Fear as an attempt to familiarize myself with Wikipedia formatting. However, after adding some links to my source a padlock has appeared next to the link. What is this, and is it bad? I apologize if this is common knowledge or if I have made a mistake; I have looked through all of the tutorials I could find and was unable to find any information about this. Also, if anyone happens to spot any other errors in the page, if you could explain why they are errors to me--as opposed to merely correcting them--so I can learn how this system better works I would be appreciative. I am not sure if I will be able to find my back here to check to see if anyone has commented on this file, my email address is ------ and I would appreciate any mentoring the community feels inclined to offer. Thanks. Jacob Hodgen 23:20, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Hello, Jacob. I have removed your email address to avoid you being hit by spam. The padlock symbol denotes that the web address is to a secure connection (see the article at https). There's nothing to worry about. I don't have time to look at the rest of the page for suggestions, I'm afraid, but hopefully somebody else will soon. Regards, Bencherlite^Talk 23:27, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Hi there Jacob! I took a look at the article. The only problem that I can see is the distinct lack of references. Other than that, good work on your first Wikipedia article! NF24^{(radio me!)} 23:36, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Further reading: Wikipedia:Cite your sources, Wikipedia:No original research

Thank you for the help and suggestions. I will make sure to include more sources within the next few days. Jacob Hodgen 00:31, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

USERSUBPAGE

How do I create a usersubpage of a specific article?Kitty53 23:36, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

You can create a subpage within your user space by adding "/subpage" to the end of your user page's URL - in your case, User:Kitty53/subpage. Subpages are disabled in the main article subpage, so you can't create one there. WP:SUBPAGE has more information for you. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 23:45, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Can I create one myself?Kitty53 00:05, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Yes, just choose a name and create it like any other page. If it's later moved to a mainspace article then it doesn't need to have the same name. PrimeHunter 00:09, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

You can keep track of your user subpages with: Special:Prefixindex/User:Kitty53. You may wish to add that link to your user page. --Teratornis (talk) 08:08, 5 December 2007 (UTC)