Help desk
< July 12	<< Jun \| July \| Aug >>	July 14 >

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.

July 13

DO you think that the Template:Global Flood, should be deleted?

I just want to say that whould that particular template be deleted. It contains information from another point of view that is about the Global Flood in the bible_____User:Virtue account

You can explain your view at Wikipedia:Templates for deletion#Template:Global Flood. Prodego ^talk 01:20, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Screen shots of wikipedia

To whom it may concern,

I wish to use screen shots of Wikipedia articles and the Wikipedia main page, this includes the Wikipedia logo for a educational video for You Tube. Can I? I will site all sources.

Thank you,

-- (Cocoaguy ここがいい _contribs^talk) 01:25, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I would suggest that you contact the encyclopedia more directly, by clicking here, and request permission. --Haemo 01:40, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If you are making instructional videos that would be useful for Wikipedia users, please add a mention of them in Wikipedia:Instructional material. --Teratornis 01:52, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

e-mailing articles

is it possoble to e-mail an article right from the article itself -- is there a link for doing this?

I don't think its possible to e-mail an article directly from Wikipedia. What you can do is copy and paste the contents of an article to your e-mail account and send it from there. --_Hdt83 ^Chat 05:18, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Or even better, send a link to the article in the email instead. --antilived^{T | C | G} 09:24, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Try right-clicking anywhere in the page. In my browser, IE7, an email option shows up in the menu. Corvus cornix 22:11, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Right-click and then click "Send Link..." for Firefox. @pple 16:10, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Talk pages

Perhaps I'm having a mental lapse, because it's been a while since I've used Wikipedia, but weren't the 'talk' pages originally called 'discussion' pages?

Possibly. The notation is fairly variable. Technically they probably should be called "discussion" pages, but "talk" is easier to type, and they are located in the Talk: namespace. There has, in fact, been some discussion on the village pump's proposals section about renaming the tabs, which still say "discussion". Confusing Manifestation 07:09, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This is an example of what I call "synonym disease" in MediaWiki. I consider it an ergonomic flaw in a user interface, because using more than one word to mean exactly the same thing creates an extra learning burden for the new user. Namely, the new user must learn that there are two different words which have the same meaning in the system, and this is not something the new user can safely assume. Usually when the user sees an unfamiliar word, it probably ties into another unfamiliar concept. Synonym disease therefore creates potential red herrings to mislead the user and overwhelm his or her scarce short term memory. An ergonomically superior system unfailingly maintains a one-to-one correspondence between names and things, avoiding instances of both synonym disease and the opposite problem, overloading (using the same word to refer to more than one distinct thing). (Initially I thought "page" and "article" were also synonyms, but later I learned they are not.) The above ideas are not original with me, but I don't have any sources to cite for them off the top of my head. So, in the absence of sources, I present these ideas as merely my opinions. "But of course they are correct," he muttered quietly. --Teratornis 15:54, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It's odd, because now they say "discussion" once again. I don't know if an administrator was fooling around with the format, but for a short stint, the pages all said "talk." And yes, that was here in standard Wikipedia, I'm not confusing it for the Simple English version.

Images move depending on page size.

If the window on a persons computer is small, it alters the whole layout of the page I created. I would like the words and pictures to be just where Iput them regardless of how big a persons window is.How can i do this?

Lucysbar 07:08, 13 July 2007 (UTC) Lucysbar[reply]

Are you doing this in HTML? If you are you should bear in mind that it is a bad idea to have a fixed sized layout on a website. It's much better to make an "elastic" layout where it will adapt from a reasonably low resolution (800×600 or below) to much higher by using percentages and min-width and max-width properties in CSS. If you still decide to make everything fixed, you can set width and height of a specific element by using CSS. Also, this question belongs to the Computing Reference Desk. --antilived^{T | C | G} 09:23, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

what?

Where can I buy the third season of South Park?Thanks.Peter French

Please ask at the reference desk. The Evil Spartan 15:27, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Or just Google:South Park third season and give the Reference desk folks a rest. --Teratornis 15:43, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

$$$??

HOW MUCH DO I NEED TO PAY TO USE WIKIPEDIA? THANKS, JOE STAMPSEN JR.

You do not need to pay any money to use Wikipedia. Wikipedia is completely free to use and edit. You don't even need to pay to create an account. For more information please see Wikipedia:About or our FAQ. Raven4x4x 08:53, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia does however rely on donations to keep running so if you wish you might like to consider making a donation. Thanks. Will (aka Wimt) 09:16, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You do, however, have to make an effort to learn how to use Wikipedia, and the primary way you do this is by reading the friendly manuals. If you value your time, this effort is not "free," and if you are like most people, reading manuals does not powerfully stimulate the pleasure center in your brain. Fortunately, if you only want to read Wikipedia, the number of manual pages to read is not too large. However, if you also want to edit articles in a substantial way, and have some success at it, you will have to read a frightening amount. In addition to the manuals, there is some Instructional material you may find helpful, including some training videos. --Teratornis 15:28, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Template to request a better photo

I've found templates to request a photo that is in better focus, or better exposed, but isn't there one just to request a better photo? Like one that actually shows the subject of the article? (I was looking at this article in particular.) I know this is often simply requested on the article's talk page, but I think a template is more likely to get noticed.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:46, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

{{Reqphoto}} lists several related templates, but I don't see one that looks like a request for a better photo. Template talk:Reqphoto#Image change? mentions a template on the Danish Wikipedia which does appear to request a better photo. You might repeat your question on Template talk:Reqphoto. If the template you seek already exists, it should appear in the list of templates in the documentation section of {{Reqphoto}}; if the template does not exist, someone should create one, or add an option to {{Reqphoto}} to request a better photo. --Teratornis 15:40, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm Danish. The Danish Wikipedia uses the same template for requesting a picture or a better picture. http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skabelon:Billedesavnes says:

Denne artikel kan blive bedre, hvis der indsættes et (bedre) billede.

The direct translation is:

This article could become better if there is inserted a (better) picture.

"(better)" is written with the parentheses and is not optional. PrimeHunter 20:52, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You can use the "of" parameter to clarify what you want, for example use {{Reqphoto}} with {{Reqphoto|of=the Bluesmobile with good view of the car}}. It doesn't have to replace the existing photo in Bluesmobile. The article could have two photos. PrimeHunter 15:40, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

leaning of pisa tower

what is the solution to retain its stability —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 59.94.109.46 (talk • contribs) 09:50, 13 July 2007.

The Wikipedia article about the tower has some information about that. Put "Leaning Tower of Pisa" into the search box and see what happens. The search box is in the left hand column at the top of any wikipedia page. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 10:34, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Use Google will make it easier. :) @pple 16:13, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Notable deaths

Where do i find the section where people have died (notable deaths)?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.189.209.128 (talk • contribs)

I don't understand your question. Everybody dies. It's not notable.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 12:55, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe you're looking for Deaths in 2007, which lists recent notable deaths? --Maelwys 12:57, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Good call Maelwys. Of course the Darwin Awards are also notable deaths.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 13:00, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Doesn't Wikipedia have catagory pages for people who died at certain ages or in certain circumstances? I recall pages like 'Entertainers who died in their 20s' and 'People killed in road accidents.' I found these pages fascinating, whatever happened to them? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.149.195.135 (talk)

Maybe Category:Death and Lists of people by cause of death is of interest. PrimeHunter 18:46, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Personalized mainpage

Is there a way to make wikipedia open to a particular page or portal when you login? Like, if you're a history buff, it could always open to the history portal . . .

Create a Favorite (Bookmark in Firefox) linking to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Userlogin&returnto=Portal:History . If you want to go somewhere else on login, you can change the end of the URL to point somewhere else, eg: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Userlogin&returnto=Wikipedia:Help_Desk . Just remember to replace any spaces with underscores ( _ ) :) -- Stwalkerster talk 13:22, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, forgot to mention: Click the favourite to login, and it will automatically redirect you to Portal:History after you login successfully. :) -- Stwalkerster talk 13:24, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

International Marketing

Dear Sir/Madam,

I want to do PG course / Diploma Cerificate course in "INTERNATIONAL MARKETING" through correspondence.

Please advise me where can I do the above course in India.

Dinesh

Try a Google Search for that. Sorry, but Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a place you can do things like that. :) -- Stwalkerster talk 13:45, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I corrected your Google Search interwiki link. The correct prefix is Google:, and   is necessary instead of a space character between search terms, due a bug in how MediaWiki formats URLs for interwiki links to sites that are not actually wikis. (I'm not sure whether this space character problem qualifies as a "bug" because it is more like a deliberate misuse of the interwiki linking feature.) The questioner should also see List of basic marketing topics. --Teratornis 14:44, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

References there but not linked in text

What do I mark an article as ({{unreferenced}}?) when the references section does list references, but the text itself is missing in-line footnote style links to the references? In particular, I'm referring to Henry VIII of England. Thanks in advance. -- Sdornan 13:40, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I put {{Citations missing|date=July 2007}} at the top of the page. Is that correct? -- Sdornan 13:43, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It'll do. It's in the right area, so if it is slightly wrong, someone will change it, or deal with it anyway :) -- Stwalkerster talk 13:46, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion pages

I've just opened a discussion page for a particular article. In it, I ask for some clarification on references cited.

What happens now? Will the author of the article respond, or what? And how long is any response likely to take?

Sorry to be so ignorant, but I do need to know.

Iain07 14:51, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It depends on when someone stumbles across your message. It could be a few hours or a few months. Incidentally, though, you placed your comment on the wrong page. I moved it. You wanted Talk:Thomas Sayers, not Talk:Thomas Sayers/Comments. The Evil Spartan 15:12, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Articles usually have many contributers. You can see them and their edits by clicking "history" at the top of the article. You can contact them directly by clicking "Talk" next to their name in the history, and then click "leave a comment" to start a new section on their talk page. Thomas Sayers has dead links to http://www.tales.ndirect.co.uk/TOM2.HTML. The Internet Archive#Wayback Machine shows former content of that URL at http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.tales.ndirect.co.uk/TOM2.HTML. PrimeHunter 15:26, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sign-in details are not working!

I have tried to sign in several times, using an emailed temporary password. This was a month ago, when I got the message that too many attempts were made in a 24 hours period. I just tried again to get a temporary password sent, and got the '24' message again! 81.111.110.50 14:52, 13 July 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Wait 24 hours, then request a new password. Then try logging in again. Don't try to login until 24 hours are up though. If it still doesn't work, post another message here. :) -- Stwalkerster talk 15:36, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Technological Company Stubs

{{helpme}}

I was attempting to create a new Tech Company Stub in http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Technological_company_stubs&from=C by editing the page brought up by clicking on the {{tech-company-stub}} link on the page. However, I seem to have successfully edited the generic template and not saved as a company page.

How do I undo the damage I apparently caused to the template page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template_talk:Tech-company-stub ?

Then the next question would be that once I get the page appropriately created such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chassis-Plans then how do I add that to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Technological_company_stubs?

Thanks, David

Hi David. I've slightly altered your comment(just added markup) to remove this page from the tech company stubs, I hope this isn't a problem. To add your own page Chassis-Plans to the Technological company stubs simply add the {{tech-company-stub}} to the page.

As for the template, you have created a talk page for it. I'd just suggest going back to the template talk page and blanking it (just edit, select all, delete, and save) since you are the only editor to have touched it. Camann•TALK 16:21, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Also, the {{helpme}} tag is for use on your user talk page, just for future reference. Camann•TALK 16:25, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The Spill Canvas

Hello. I am writring from Warner Brothers Records. You have spelled a Spill Canvas member's name as "Landen" when, in fact, it is spelled "Landon." Thank you.

Danielle Katz Danielle.Katz@wbr.com

It's fixed now. This is Wikipedia, just as you used this page to leave a message, you could have edited the The Spill Canvas page yourself instead of waiting for someone here to see and fix it. Camann•TALK 16:09, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

no info on 163 and qian zhijun

why wikipedia no info on 163, is very big website in china, and qian zhijun, his photos everywhere in china. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Chinese EdiTor (talk • contribs).

Wikipedia hates the Chinese. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 59.189.65.174 (talk)

There has been an article at Qian Zhijun (logs) and large discussions and controversy about it as [1] shows. One of the arguments to delete the article was to avoid further embarassement of this innocent kid who hasn't done anything. There is a short mention without name at Little fatty. PrimeHunter 17:45, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think it is fair to say "Wikipedia hates the Chinese" (even though I would enjoy hearing someone say, "Mr. Wales, tear down this wall!" no matter how lacking in basis the rallying cry would be, or perhaps because of that). Wikipedia might lose the battle against vandalism if it allows editing via open proxies (a battle Wikipedia could still lose anyway, as the vandalism arms race continues with unpredictable outcome), and a heavily-vandalized Wikipedia wouldn't be useful to anyone, Chinese or otherwise. Besides, as the United States learned by invading and occupying Iraq, even toppling a seemingly unpopular dictator does not automatically make people like you. Perhaps the ensuing chaos in Iraq suggests Saddam Hussein was not as far out of line with the values of his people as we were led to believe, and perhaps the Chinese government similarly enjoys more support among at least a powerful subset of its subjects than its detractors maintain. I think Wikipedia is doing plenty to pressure governments everywhere to loosen restrictions on the free flow of information, simply by being a popular Web site that does not suck. Wikipedia continues to become more useful, and hence valuable, year by year, and this has the effect of penalizing any government foolish enough to block Wikipedia. Truth has an inherent advantage over untruth in that truth is more likely to work (as Robert Ringer wrote, "If you ignore reality, it automatically works against you."). How far behind does the Chinese government want to fall in competition for the global market? When the competitors of Chinese businesses are getting better answers faster and cheaper than Chinese companies can get them, powerful Chinese business interests may start to complain, and few governments ignore their billionaires (those that try to, such as the Khmer Rouge, tend not to last long). Also, Wikipedia's popularity and visibility are driving the adoption of corporate wikis which could really disturb the status quo. The Chinese government will certainly have its work cut out if it wants the benefits of modern information technology while maintaining the censorship facilitated by older forms of information such as paper publishing and broadcast television in which a relatively small number of organizations controlled what everybody got to read or view. I read somewhere a speculation that Communism tends to fall in any modernizing nation shortly after the number of telephones per 1000 people reaches some threshold value, beyond which centralized control over information becomes untenable. Wikis might function like super-powerful telephones in this respect. --Teratornis 21:37, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

yes, in 2003, qian zhijun not happy that every people take his photos, but now, its ok with him. i think he will happy if wikipedia have info on him. and 163, very big website in china, only baidu tencent and sina more big, why wikipedia no info on 163. teratornis, i dont understand you. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Chinese EdiTor (talk • contribs).

There has been a stub about 163.com since March 2005. Apart from 5 pages on the site itself, it is the first Google hit on 163.com for me (but possibly not in China where Google results may be censored). It was decided to keep the article in Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/163.com. Anybody with Wikipedia access (for example you) can edit the article. Unfortunately that excludes a lot of Chinese people due to Chinese censorship. PrimeHunter 03:16, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Template formatting

I need help formatting Template:Ivy League MLB All-Stars. I just need some thing like a "•" or a "|" that can break the six template areas for spacing.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/tcfkaWCDbwincowtchatlotpsoplrttaDCLaM) 16:52, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Done. I hope that it is OK. I have split it all up onto different rows, and the || means a new column (It is the same as a | on a new line). If it is not OK, come back here for more help. I have included the template as a link below:
{{Ivy League MLB All-Stars}}
:) -- Stwalkerster talk 19:34, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

doubts

i am bio-techee.. is there any chance of downloading ebooks through this site reguarding subject?

There are no e-books available here. You can see our article on biotechnology at that link. Dismas|^(talk) 19:40, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You might also want to try our sister project WikiBooks. - Zeibura ^(Talk) 19:57, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Theo Geisel

Theo Geisel (Dr. Seuss) should have a link to a new page for Theo Geisel, Director, Max-Planck-Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization and Professor of Theoretical Physics, University of Göttingen. http://www.chaos.gwdg.de/theo/

This is my first time contributing to Wikipedia and I am not sure how to make the necessary changes.

LewM 19:34, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hi! You might like to take a look at the Tutorial to get started. Links can be make by typing [[Article]], replacing Article with the article you wish to link to. If you create a link to an article that does not yet exist, it will appear red, like this. If the article on the other end exists, it will appear like this. I hope this helps. You can play around in the sandbox to try out stuff. I hope this helps. :) -- Stwalkerster talk 20:01, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Actually the situation here is that Theo Geisel currently exists as a redirect to Dr. Seuss, and LewM appears to be asking how to make Theo Geisel into a page about the Theo Geisel who is the director of the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization and Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Göttingen. It sounds as if we need to turn Theo Geisel from a redirect into a disambiguation page, and that's a bit much for a first-time Wikipedia contributor to tackle unaided, I should think. --Teratornis 22:30, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Delete

How do you delete pages that you have created?

Insert {{db-g7}} at the top of the page. - Zeibura ^(Talk) 19:56, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Reply: That dosen't work.

It did work. What you did was added a tag for it to be deleted by an Administrator, as normal users like you and me can't delete things. This is because one needs to gain the communities' trust before being allowed to delete things. If you wait for an administrator to come along, it will be deleted (it shouldn't be long...) :) -- Stwalkerster talk 20:06, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Voila! Deletion Log entry:
20:11, 13 July 2007 Gadfium (Talk | contribs) deleted "Artmonk" (content was: '{{db-g7}}' (and the only contributor was 'Danny999911'))

Page was deleted

I created a page and yes it took me HOURS to do. I know these pages aren't for promotion which is why no specials were included and there were only links to exterior web sights for specials. Basically the page was a description of the bar with some pictures and the logos. The reason for deletion was this:

"Lucy's Retired Surfer's Bar" (g11 advertising content was: '{{AfDM|page=Lucy's Retired Surfer's Bar|date=2007 July 13|... What does this mean?

Also the previous page, (which linked to this) entitled "Marshall Street" was shortened dramatically. And doing this not only disables a person to get to this link, but many other business's links as well. Why was this shortened? It says "list of local businesses long." (or something like that) I did add a few more establishments, but it wasn't that much longer to begin with and some of the information was incorrect and out-dated. That page was like that for months and no one had a problem with it. But as soon as I made some changes that needed to be made, it's now "too long." Well before it was "innaccurate." Which is worse? I undid this because the information I supplied was accurate and informative. I've lived near the area for 34 years and know this to be true.

Lucysbar 20:58, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Lucy's Retired Surfer's Bar - multiple editors felt that the article was blatant advertising, and on viewing the deleted page (as an administrator, I can do that) I'm inclined to agree that the article promoted the establishment. The debate was closed early because it was evident that the page was eligible for speedy deletion. Nihiltres^(t.l) 21:06, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

And the list won't have been alright before you changed it, it's just that the right people hadn't noticed until you changed it :-P Skittle 21:55, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Somebody, not me, requested that I should be sent a new password. What is going on?

Hi!

In mail from Wikipedia (wiki@wikimedia.org) there was the following:

Someone (probably you, from IP address 200.121.200.197) requested that we send you a new Wikipedia login password for en.wikipedia.org.

Now, this is not my IP-number.

I did a quick whois on cygwin and got the following output (copied from screen):

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

/cygdrive/c/cygwin/home$ whois 200.121.200.11

% Joint Whois - whois.lacnic.net

% This server accepts single ASN, IPv4 or IPv6 queries

% Copyright LACNIC lacnic.net

% The data below is provided for information purposes

% and to assist persons in obtaining information about or

% related to AS and IP numbers registrations

% By submitting a whois query, you agree to use this data

% only for lawful purposes.

% 2007-07-13 15:44:04 (BRT -03:00)

inetnum: 200.121.200.0/25

status: reallocated

owner: PE-TDPERX3-LACNIC

ownerid: PE-PETD9-LACNIC

responsible: Telefonica del Peru

address: Av. San Felipe 1144 Surquillo, 1144, edi A

address: 34 - Lima -

country: PE

phone: +51 1 210-6771 []

owner-c: GRT2

tech-c: GRT2

created: 20040924

changed: 20040924

inetnum-up: 200.121.192/19

inetnum-up: 200.121.128/17

nic-hdl: GRT2

person: Gestion Dir. IP Telefónica del Perú

e-mail: gestionip@TELEFONICA.NET.PE

address: Calle San Felipe 1144, 1144,

address: LI34 - Lima - LI

country: PE

phone: +51 1 2106771 []

created: 20021204

changed: 20030923

% whois.lacnic.net accepts only direct match queries.

% Types of queries are: POCs, ownerid, CIDR blocks, IP

% and AS numbers.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Can anyone tell me what is going on, please? This does seem scary.

All the best Io 21:30, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You already understand what's happened. Indeed, someone who is not you has requested a change on your password. And you, and not they, have received that email. I forget the current content of the email you received, but I'm sure it says something like "if it wasn't you, don't worry, nothing will happen". As it wasn't you, don't worry, nothing will happen. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:33, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

(ec) That's happened to me a couple times, too. Don't worry about it; anyone can send any user a new password by simply entering a username in the box at Special:Userlogin, then clicking "Email new password". — Malcolm ^talk 21:34, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

(ec) True. If you ever do forget your password, you can request a new one, but the one you'll receive will just be temporary. If you don't use it, and continue to log on with your existing one, the "new" password will expire after a few days. (That means that you don't need to worry about the chances of someone guessing a possible password for you just because you have 500 working passwords instead of one!) If you log on with the new one (and only you can do that, as Wikipedia only send it to the email address that is already registered in the name of the user that the password requester claims to be), you'll be told to choose a new password before you resume editing. In other words, the one sent by email is not a permanent one. It seems scary, but it really isn't. ElinorD (talk) 21:40, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks guys and girl! :-)

Actually I did change my password, just in case, but I have never forgotten a password. (But has any of you experienced that you can't write your password down on paper, only type it - it's in the fingers somehow?) I hope I'm not betraying any secrets of the trade, but my method is to take a random line of poetry, pick out the initial letters and then substitute upper-case letters, numerals or other symbols, where appropriate. My password at my second last place of emloyment got the verdict unbreakable. (They ran checks every now and then.) But thanks all and cheers Io 22:08, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

One thing, Elinor: there is no way you could have 500 working passwords. MediaWiki only stores the "real" password (the one you use for login) and one temporary password. If you request a new password, and click the button twice, two emails are sent: the first one, with the first temporary password, will become invalid as soon as the second one is sent. If you try to use the token sent in the first email, MediaWiki will not accept it. Titoxd^{(?!? - cool stuff)} 00:38, 15 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Someone's plea

please can you tell me about may mother he have a metastasis hepar .can you tell me somethong becouse her body was be yellow color please tell me somethink bay she live or not—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.80.161.154 (talk • contribs).

Added the heading - we got into an edit conflict. Cheers Io 22:08, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

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). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. :) -- Stwalkerster talk 22:11, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Just to make it clear, the original question was not mine. I just added a header. :-) Cheers Io 22:43, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Not trying to be mean or anything but you should also see the medical disclaimer. We do not give medical advice. Sorry. --_Hdt83 ^Chat 04:44, 14 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 July 13

Contents