Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 March 1

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March 1

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Images on Wikipedia pages are not showing up...

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I've been downloading a ton of photos from Wikipedia lately, but now suddenly I can't see ANY images on ANY Wikipedia pages. This happens with Wikipedia on different browsers, so I don't think it's a browser issue. And all websites outside the Wikipedia family appear to be fine, so...

Have I downloaded so much that I've been blocked? Or what? Please help! Thanks!

The upload server and Commons servers can be quite slow at times. x42bn6 Talk 01:39, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hm... I've never encountered any slowness before. And the images don't seem to appear, no matter how long I wait.66.142.64.222 01:44, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

OK, it's fine now. You were right. It was just suddenly really really slow. Thanks for your help!66.142.64.222 01:46, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Wikipedia "featured" in spam e-mail

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I got a pump-and-dump spam today telling me to "Read more about Proton exchange membrane at wikipedia."(sic). I go there out of curiosity, and someone has added this to the end : "In Feb. 2007 this article was used as a reference for a pump-and-dump stock spam scam. Remember that the Wiki does not endorse or promote any product." Is there a template that can replace this? I'd rather a self-reference like this have a colorful box seperate from the actual article. Thanks, --Transfinite 01:38, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

ABout wikipedia administrator

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HOw can i become wikipedia administrator —Preceding unsigned comment added by Parveenyadav (talkcontribs)

WP:RFA. Work hard, play fair. Xiner (talk, email) 03:30, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Answer lots of question on the Help desk for a few months. Someone who can do that may be ready to pursue adminship. --Teratornis 07:55, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You might want to read WP:GRFA, a guide to applying for adminship. --ais523 09:01, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
Other then that you also need to work on articles. Personally, at this stage of your wikipedia 'carrier', I would suggest you get to work on learning about our policies and improving wikipedia (whether by working on articles, helping out at the helpdesk etc) rather then worry too much about becoming an admin Nil Einne 10:37, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

T-shirt

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I want to buy a t shirt from wikipedia. Is that possible? Jonlebe 04:07, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, see http://www.cafepress.com/wikipedia John Reaves (talk) 05:36, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Note, as the link explains, the proceeds go to the wikimedia foundation, not wikipedia which isn't a distinct entity Nil Einne 10:33, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hookah

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I have been trying for days to edit in information about Cyber Hookah groups and sales online. I feel this is valid information, and involved refernece to a facebook group. What can i do to ensure it does not get taken down constantly under the search "hookah" —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.80.135.214 (talk) 05:09, 1 March 2007

Where is the article page?

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Where is the article page for AMI Planet (www.amiplanet.com) ?

No such page exists--42 06:18, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
(Edit Conflict) Try AMI Planet, AMI, or Wikipedia:Search. Failing that, it might not exist - so if you think it's notifiable, then make it! ScaleneUserPageTalkContributionsBiographyЄ 06:20, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Why doesn't it exist?

Someone hasn't created it, yet. Either that, or it was deleted. ScaleneUserPageTalkContributionsBiographyЄ 06:22, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Should this issue be reported to an editor?

I think you mean administrator. Everyone's an editor.--42 06:29, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Not at all! You see, anyone can edit Wikipedia. This means you can create the article, AMI Music, yourself! Before you do so, you might want to read Wikipedia:About, and register a username so you can create new articles. ScaleneUserPageTalkContributionsBiographyЄ 06:34, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It's not an 'issue', unless you mean that there was an article, but it was deleted. If so, you can seek a deletion review if you think the deletion was not deserved. SubSeven 10:44, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Editing text box in article "Tristan chord"

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I tried to edit a text box in your article "Tristan chord", the box at the start of the article. The reason for the edit here is that the intervals are in the wrong order: they should be reversed because intervals are measured from the lowest note upwards. On the edit page for this article I reversed the four lines, but on the preview page they remained the same as in the original article. I.e.,

root| augmented fourth (tritone)| major third| perfect fourth|

should be corrected to:

perfect fourth| major third| augmented fourth| root|

Please advise how to make changes to this text box.

In addition, the intervals are measured the wrong way (e.g., major third should be augmented sixth). But that I was able to edit myself. RGB2 06:32, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If I understand you correctly, it sounds as if you are asking how to reverse the order of input parameters to the {{Infobox Chord}} template. I think you are just asking how to change this:

{{Infobox Chord| 
chord_name=Tristan chord|
first_interval=[[Root (chord)|root]]|
second_interval=augmented fourth ([[tritone]])|
third_interval=[[major third]]|
fourth_interval=[[perfect fourth]]|
}}

to this:

{{Infobox Chord| 
chord_name=Tristan chord|
first_interval=[[perfect fourth]]|
second_interval=[[major third]]|
third_interval=augmented fourth ([[tritone]])|
fourth_interval=[[Root (chord)|root]]|
}}
Tristan chord
Component intervals from root
root
augmented fourth (tritone)
major third
perfect fourth

(maybe changing the [[major third]] to [[augmented sixth]]). The trick there is not to change the order of original lines (the template does not care about the order in which its labeled input parameters arrive, because the template sorts out the parameter values according to their labels), but to change the order of the parameter values that appear to the right of the = signs. However, that appears to violate the intent of the parameter labels, which is to call the entry on the bottom of the box the "fourth interval" rather than the "first interval" which is what my example perverts it into.

To the right is what the latter produces (keeping the original major third entry, which you know how to change). That gets the infobox to look the way you want, but almost certainly this violates the implied interval ordering of the labels. It sounds like you wish to dispute the field ordering in the {{Infobox Chord}} template. If so, you should explain your point of view on Template talk:Infobox Chord, and let the fireworks begin. --Teratornis 07:50, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

linking between language versions of the wikipedia ?

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is there a policy on this ? say a reference in Eng to a Fr page.

how does one do it ?

what if all i want is to share an image displayed in another wikipedia ?

You can create an interwiki link to a different-language Wikipedia by typing a link to it, such as [[fr:Wikipédia:Guilde des Guides]] (the French Help Desk), at the bottom of the article; try to keep the interwiki links in their standard order (which is more-or-less alphabetical). If pages on different Wikipedias are about the same thing, you should interwiki link them as soon as you notice. See Help:Interwiki linking for more information. As for images, you can only use images uploaded here (the English Wikipedia) and on the Wikimedia Commons on the English Wikipedia; if an image is used on another project under a free use licence that you'd like to use here, you might want to try transferring it to Commons yourself. Hope that helps! --ais523 11:43, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

How to enter information....

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Hi,

I was wondering if it is possible to enter any information about anything for example about "myself" so that when ever my name is displayed on the net it is underlined and anyone who wants to know about me may click that and the information entered in the Wikipedia will be displayed..

Thanks n regards

altaf

  • There's several problems with this. I'll name them:
  1. Writing about yourself is discouraged as no one can do it in a neutral point of view. See WP:AUTO, WP:COI.
  2. You probably don't need notability criteria for inclusion on Wikipedia. WP:BIO.
  3. There's more people with the same name, so when "your" name is displayed on the web it doesn't mean it is about you.
  4. Even when you have an article written about you in Wikipedia, it will not mean your name will automatically be underlined and linked.

If you want people to read about you, you should start your own website with a webhost and ask people who write about you to link to it. Wikipedia is not a tool for self-promotion. - Mgm|(talk) 13:44, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Pianist Jean-Paul Sevilla

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I wrote an article on Jean-Paul but put in a title Pianist Jean-Paul Sevilla. Thus I noticed that when I did a search it did not come up, whereas when I put in Pianist Jean-Paul Sevilla it came up readily. Can the title be changed to delete "Pianist" so that the seacrh will work?

Thanks,Bill

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please tell me how to access the google link so that I can change inaccurate data ----

If the link is to a Wikipedia article then you can simply click the edit this page tab at the top and change it. If the link is to another site your probably won't be able to change it. Most sites on the internet don't allow corrections and edits in the same way that Wikipedia and other open wikis do.—WAvegetarian (talk) 15:51, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No...not my account!

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I used to contribute here quite often under the pseudonym 'Baje_Tiger.' The problem is I have been somehow locked out of my account; none of my passwords has been accepted. It was set to automatically log-in from my desktop but I have since moved and temporarily lost dominion over that PC...I currently operate from my laptop. I can assure you that the account is indeed mine and is now inactive as a result. The account is still there and so I do not wish to start a new one, as it would mean relinquishing my status here as a fairly seasoned user and contributor. As I never registered with an e-mail address, I have no real means of regaining access.

I appreciate your assistance in this highly irregular situation.

Nicholas

Unfortunately there is no way to retrieve passwords. —WAvegetarian (talk) 15:47, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You could, of course, get a new account and note on your user page that you used to be Baje_Tiger. That way, you can transfer your reputation, as far as anyone who cares is concerned. Skittle 21:57, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia Images to Commons

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What is the fastest, easiest way to move a large number of images that I have uploaded here at Wikipedia under free licenses to the Wikimedia Commons (their description page and license info along with it)? Thanks. Steevven1 (Talk) (Contribs) (Gallery) 16:06, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Some abbreviation in edit summary

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As editing some articles, I run into some weird abbreviations: rv, rm,.. Can anyone explain to me what are these? Appleworm 16:11, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

(please answer in my talk page because this HD page is too long to upload. Thank you.) Appleworm 16:13, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Reply on user's talk page [2] PeaceNT 16:20, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Cut and paste problems

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The cut and paste commands seem to not be functioning properly. I use them when archiving portions of discussion pages. Is there some new process I should be following or is it something else? This is the second time I have written this article so I will not write a full explanation; the server error is frustrating. --Storm Rider (talk) 17:18, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You mean.. the cut and paste commands of your browser (like "Edit -> Cut", "Edit -> Paste")? I think that should work independently of the site you're browsing, so it isn't a wikipedia (mediawiki) problem. FrancoGG ( talk ) 17:33, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I use Microsoft Explorer, ver. 7 and the cut and paste commands are available at other times. This is unique to working on WIKI; however, it has never done it before. I was just wondering if something new was being instituted. It is very strange. --Storm Rider (talk) 16:43, 2 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Archives reporting Death 1885

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81.178.230.11 18:12, 1 March 2007 (UTC)Do yOu have any newspaper reports of a Drowning of Private Fergus Bootle in the something Basin , Grand canal on the 2/2/1885 he belonged to the Northumberland Fusiliers Going to India in 1885. If you do not can you please put me in the right direction. he was a ancester of mine and according to the death Certificate says Drowning Accidental. according to army service records he was either ill or something on 5/November/1884 but yet was drowned Accidental 2/February /1885 I have written to the Coroners office twice but up to date have not had a reply asking for a Inquest report for me ,and where is his BODY I cannot seem to find any information at all . Thank you very much for reading this and hope you can help Margaret removed e-mail (by User:Vbd)[reply]

You can trying using the search box on the left side of the page, or contact the Reference Desk. Good luck!--Vbd (talk) 22:40, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I edit Wikipedia regularly, but I am unable to edit the page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_law_clerks_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States#Felix_Frankfurter to add the name of Joseph L. Rauh, Jr., last clerk of Cardozo and first clerk of Frankfurter. When I hit the "edit" buttons, I get a blank edit screen, and if I enter text into the blank edit screen and hit the "Save Page" button, nothing is saved. Any idea why this is so?

editor id: jtk155 removed email 63.249.117.123 18:35, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

According to Talk:List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States, this has been an ongoing problem since June of last year, but nobody seems to have addressed it. This really needs to be fixed. Corvus cornix 17:24, 2 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
"This page is 181 kilobytes long. It may be appropriate to split this article into smaller, more specific articles. See Wikipedia:Article size." It used to be that browsers couldn't edit pages over 32KiB; nowadays, they can handle much more than that, but you seem to have found your browser's limit. Does editing the article a section at a time work? --ais523 17:32, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
No, that's the problem. You can edit the first section, which concerns the Chief Justices, but if you edit the section below that, for Seat 1, the edit that comes up is for the section for Seat 8, and other sections below that bring up blank edit boxes. I'm using IE 7. Corvus cornix 18:26, 2 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You might want to bring this up on the technical Village Pump. --ais523 18:28, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
Good point. Thanks, I'll do that. Corvus cornix 18:47, 2 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

*crying*

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someone removed all my hard work for no reason! Over Anime Exposure its gone! please explain why in your words!--Lolicon3043910 18:42, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. Friday (talk) 18:44, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
:According to the deletion log it was deleted by User:Luigi30 due to "(soam)". I don't know what soam is but it's a start... Dismas|(talk) 18:46, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Guess he meant spam, though this sounds more like a nonsense article than spam, per se. SubSeven 20:30, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

yes & OAE is a "medical" term! --Lolicon3043910 18:47, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

What medical text says that OAE (presumably Over Anime Exposure) is a medical term? Dismas|(talk) 18:57, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It doesn't pass the Google test of notability, for sure: http://www.google.com/search?q=%22over+anime+exposure%22 Notinasnaid 19:08, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Just because Wikipedia rejects your work doesn't mean you can't publish it on a wiki. See: Wikipedia talk:Why was my page deleted?#If all else fails, try another wiki. --Teratornis 20:01, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Name change

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How do I make a minor change to the title of an article that I've just created? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cosslett (talkcontribs)

What's the article? I could move it for you if you'd like. John Reaves (talk) 20:25, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Images

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Can you find images on Wikipedia?

Yes, in many articles. Was there a specific image you were looking for? Dismas|(talk) 23:13, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • You can search the Wikipedia image space by (1) typing in what you want to search for in the box on the left; (2) clicking on the "Search" button (not the "Go" button); (3) at the bottom of the resulting page, uncheck everything except for "image" and "image talk", and make sure those two boxes are checked; (4) click the "search" button at the bottom of the results page. This will search the "image namespace" for any images with your word in the description or on the talk page.
  • You may also want to take a look at Wikipedia Commons.
  • For finding images off of Wikipedia, see WP:IMAGE#Obtaining_images and Wikipedia:Finding images tutorial. Thanks, TheronJ 16:09, 2 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Headings/ Edit sections within page

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Is there a way to add a return to top of page function with every edit on the side of the pages?

I do have this

#top

but is there a way to have this automatically show up whenever someone creates a heading using the equal signs?

Some of the pages get quite long and I was wondering if there was a way to accomplish this?Shakes the clown 23:40, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think this can easily be done automatically. People over at Village pump (technical) may know more. Mr.Z-mantalk¢Review! 23:44, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Do you want to do this just for yourself? I have an addition to your monobook.js file you can make:

addOnloadHook (function () {
addTopArray = document.getElementsByTagName('span');
for (addTopCntr=0;addTopCntr<addTopArray.length;addTopCntr++)
{
if (addTopArray[addTopCntr].className == "editsection")
 { 
  addTopArray[addTopCntr].innerHTML = addTopArray[addTopCntr].innerHTML + " <a href='#top'> #top  </a> ";
 }
}
}
);

This will add #top links next to each edit link for you. If you want to do this so that it changes the page for everyone, I'm mildly against that because I don't feel like some pages should have different navigational structures than others. *Mishatx*-In\Out 03:16, 2 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]