Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 August 15

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August 15

Two contradictory articles

I'm editing the article about sanitary napkins and both this article and the cloth menstrual pad article have sections about the history of menstrual pads. The problem is that they are similar but contradictory. The section in the cloth menstrual pads article seems better and has references. I'm not sure how to fix this. Since they cover the same topic, should the section from the cloth menstrual pads article be copied into the one in the sanitary napkin one, or should it be linked to, or should I reword it and copy the references? --Ships at a Distance (talk) 01:02, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

What sections are contradictory? — Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 03:36, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

WP:MERGE might provide some general guidelines, but I'm not suggesting you would necessarily want to merge these two articles. It might be better to trim one of them the redundant sections down to a summary and use a {{further}} or {{main}} template to link to the history section in the other article. Then there would only be one copy for Wikipedia editors to maintain. Presumably the sections you have in mind are Sanitary napkin#History and cloth menstrual pad#History. If you want to generate a diff to let you see exactly how these two sections differ, you could paste the history section from one article into a sandbox or a user subpage, save it, then paste the history section from the other article over that, and save it. Then you could view the diff between the two revisions of the sandbox page. Since the sections seem to have some parallel text, that might illustrate the differences usefully if you wanted to ask specific questions about how to harmonize the sections. --Teratornis (talk) 04:11, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

I tried to resolve the differences on the Sanitary napkin#History section, but I think your suggestion to link to the revised Sanitary napkin#History section from cloth menstrual pad#History is better. Thanks for your help. --Ships at a Distance (talk) 05:11, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

You're welcome. Just so the record is clear, I took that suggestion from the WP:MERGE page which mentions linking redundant sections in similar articles, to avoid having to maintain two copies of the same material, which would naturally drift apart as different editors randomly hit each copy. (Wikipedia has a fair amount of such overlap, since we have so many contributors who, oddly, haven't all recently read the entire encyclopedia, and so may edit one article without being aware that other articles exist with similar content. Wikipedia may have to slow its rate of new article creation at some point so we can improve the consistency of what we've got. As long as we keep adding a million new articles every two years or whatever the rate is, it's going to be hard to get the quality up.) --Teratornis (talk) 05:38, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Zodiac?

can someone fix the "koreans" page please? there's a wierd message from someone called the zodiac. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.153.117.206 (talk) 01:11, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Fixed, and the vandal is blocked. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. J.delanoy^gabs_adds 01:21, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Another One

Im Really Scared. I Looked up Elena Ceausescu and on the bottom there was a mysterus Zodiac Message. I Checked the history and no additions since July. I Checked again and the message was gone again no changes. Could someone please check the recent source code of the Page please? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rezashah4 (talk • contribs) 03:28, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

*yawn* - template vandalism, which is already fixed. Do a cache clearing, that should fix it up. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 03:32, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

If clearing your browser's cache does not help, you may have to purge the Elena Ceausescu page. Which raises the question, when someone fixes template vandalism, is there a simple automatic method to purge all the pages that transclude the template, so multiple users do not have to stumble into the already-fixed vandalism before all the necessary purges would work their way through according to whatever schedule we currently get? --Teratornis (talk) 03:59, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

There wasn't one last time we had this discussion here, and I don't think there is now. I'm sure it could be added to Twinkle or something if necessary. The routine (if no purging occurs) is for this stuff to go on the job queue, which should be pretty quick since it's empty right now. Algebraist 09:48, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Somebody is blacklisting my URL

There is a page dedicated to the City of Bellevue, WA on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellevue,_Washington

Within the a external references section on the page, almost a year ago I added the site: downtownbellevue.com/

Within the last couple of months my link keeps getting deleted. The link is relevant to the page, and provides great news on the city. Within the last couple of weeks I have continually added the link, and somebody has deleted it. They have now gone to extreme to blacklist my URL.

Please take the blacklist away from my url, and in addition is there anyway to contact this person or now allow their IP address to make changes anymore?

Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.168.70.39 (talk) 04:08, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Looking at the page history of Bellevue, Washington (just click on the "history" tab on that page), it seems that the person you want to contact is User:Barek. If you put a polite message on their "talk" page, at User talk:Barek, then I am sure they will explain why they have been removing your link. You should proably also read the Wikipedia policies at WP:ELNO and WP:NOTREPOSITORY. Gandalf61 (talk) 10:46, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

I have a similar problem. My site lluisllach.pl is being blacklisted - no idea, why. It is a regular site (referring to Geocities), having only links to some trackers. May I know, why? webmaster@lluisllach.pl —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.39.28.26 (talk) 21:34, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

I suggest you read the links referred to above. The gist is that links should be added to articles rarely and only when they provide valuable information from a credible source that is relevant to the subject. Antonrojo (talk) 21:38, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

email notification

I have been having problems with my photos being deleted in my absence. I know I had the copyright info for my images and someone had altered the copyright and then someone else removed it. I do not check in to Wikipidia every day or every week or month so these things are happening without my knowledge behind my back. I would appreciate it if I could receive an email notification when ever a change is made to my images or a change is made to my talk page.

How do I set up an email notification to stop these vandals?

(Lookinhere (talk) 08:09, 15 August 2008 (UTC))

They are not vandals. I don't think we have a system like that. You can use your Watchlist. StewieGriffin! • Talk Sign Listen 10:00, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

You seem to have sorted out the problem now, which was that you had not chosen the correct copyright tag when you uploaded the images, so they were removed. However, please note that you don't automatically own their positioning in any specific article when you upload them, and that any other user is free to use them in other articles, subject to any conditions about attribution, or to replace them in an article with another image at any time if they feel it is more appropriate. Users who do so are not vandals, and it is uncivil to accuse them of vandalism. Karenjc 16:24, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Where to ask

I can't find the place to ask, so I'll ask where to ask here.

Where does one put in requests for page moves, when those moves have to be carried out by administrators? The thing is I want the page Colonel Erich Von Strohm moved to Colonel Kurt Von Strohm, since Erich is wrong (somebody moved it from the right name [Kurt] in the past) and there has been a request on the article's talk page for a while now. /Ludde23 ^{Talk Contrib} 10:35, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

You can post your request at Wikipedia:Requested moves. --Clubjuggle ^T/C 10:46, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

In the interest of giving you a proverbial fishing pole instead of just a fish, for future reference you may wish to bookmark the Editor's index (shortcut: WP:EIW), which has links to most of the pages that describe policies, guidelines, and procedures on Wikipedia, nicely grouped by topic. For example, see WP:EIW#Move. If you add a link to WP:EIW to your User page, you will always be two clicks away from the Editor's index no matter where you are on Wikipedia, since your user page link appears at the top of every page when you are logged in. --Teratornis (talk) 16:18, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Etana Insurance

Hi

I work for a company called Etana Insurance based in South Africa.

I was asked by my boss to create a Wikipedia page for our company, using the same information that appears on our main site www.etana.co.za.

My article was deleted because I was told I had copyrighted the information.

I would like some guidance on how to go about restoring the article and making sure that I don't break any rules.

I would really appreciate your assistance, since I've been given a week to resolve this matter.

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Makubemk (talk • contribs) 13:32, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Have a look at WP:Copyvio and WP:Donating copyrighted materials if your company is willing to donate. Also see WP:ORG to determine whether the company you work for is notable enough to warrant its own article. Hope this helps! Zain Ebrahim (talk) 13:40, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

And also see WP:COI, WP:YFA, and WP:SPAM. As a representative of the company you have a significant conflict of interest and should avoid creating an article about your employer - if it is notable per WP:CORP someone will write an article about the company sooner or later.

Your parent company, Hollard, has an article on Wikipedia. If Etana Insurance is not notable enough for a page in its own right, you could add a mention to the Hollard Group page - of course, policies such as WP:COI and WP:COPYVIO still apply. You might find the information at Wikipedia:FAQ/Business helpful. Gandalf61 (talk) 14:09, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Can I only visit only wikipedia.org

Can I posting that such 從2007年11月中到12月底，我因為擔任九二一重建紀錄片《... ....想讓蘇花高的議題傳播出去，並引起更多人的了解和關心。(web) content? I want to send my non-privatic document via wikipedia, able or not. Thank you.

BTW, why can not mark the article I wrote is Public Domain?.219.68.144.17 (talk) 12:35, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

I'm rather confused by this question, especially since it contains non-English. Wikipedia content is not public domain: at the bottom of each article, you will find "All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)" By editing, you agree to release your contributions under the GFDL. More information is at Wikipedia:FAQ/Copyright. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 12:58, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

I cannot read your non-English. This help desk is at the English Wikipedia. See meta:List of Wikipedias for Wikipedia's in other languages. If you have an English Wikipedia account then you can place {{Public domain release}} or similar on your user page. But any article you create can (and probably will) be edited by others who don't release to public domain, so articles cannot be marked as public domain. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:21, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Can I posting that such 從2007年11月中到12月底，我因為擔任九二一重建紀錄片《... ....想讓蘇花高的議題傳播出去，並引起更多人的了解和關心。(web) content? the non-english is the web content. Can I capture such pages into my user pages.

See WP:OWN, WP:USER, and WP:EIW#UserPage. You don't actually "own" "your" user pages, although by convention on Wikipedia, most of the time other editors will treat your user pages as if you own them. The distinction matters in the event that a user violates some Wikipedia policy or guideline on a user page, thereby attracting the attention of other editors. If you want to post substantial Chinese content, you should make an account on the Chinese Wikipedia and edit user pages there. You can add an interlanguage link from your user page on the English Wikipedia to your user page on the Chinese Wikipedia. The Wikimedia Foundation operates hundreds of Wikipedias in different languages, and users should stick to the language of the Wikipedia they are on, as a courtesy to other users of that Wikipedia who expect to see its one language. --Teratornis (talk) 16:12, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Chinese Wikipedia

Why I can not write Chinese into this Wikipedia. 219.68.144.17 (talk) 14:24, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Tried the Chinese Wikipedia? Tombomp (talk/contribs) 14:28, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

(ec) :Er...because it's the English Wikipedia. There is a Chinese Wikipedia if you want to contribute articles in Chinese. – ukexpat (talk) 14:32, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

But I think it's blocked in china, in which case you'll need to use an open proxy...... Dendodge .. Talk^Contribs 20:21, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Partily Block

Does Wikipedia will make any partily block for accounts? Partily blocking mean therefore accounts can't edit some pages, but another pages can be edit. e. g. A user can posting messages to others or asking question here, but he can't edit main articles, or an account can't modify others' user page, but he can edit or creates articles. RushdimIDlike (talk) 14:31, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Does wikipedia will indurence of this partily block. RushdimIDlike (talk) 14:31, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Yes users can be, and are, blocked for actions that threaten the project, such as persistent vandalism, incivility etc, see WP:BLOCK. When a user is blocked, I think that the only page they can edit is their talk page so that they can request to be unblocked. – ukexpat (talk) 14:36, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

You can, however, be banned. A topic ban is the kind of thing you are referring to, although bans do not technically prevent you from editing those pages - you just get punished if you do...... Dendodge .. Talk^Contribs 14:44, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Semi-protection acts somewhat analogously to a partial block, except rather than partially blocking a specific user, semi-protection blocks all non-logged-in users from editing a specific page. I'm not aware of a way to partially restrict what an ordinary registered user can do on Wikipedia (although if you run your own MediaWiki wiki, there are ways to micromanage what your users can access). Registered users who have extra privileges (such as administrators) may lose their extra privileges if they misbehave. --Teratornis (talk) 16:04, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Appealing the speedy deletion of an article

I submitted an article that I think was inappropriatedly deleted. I've tried to read the instructions for lodging an appeal, but I can't understand it. Who does the protest can sent to? How do I do that?

In my opinion, the article, which concerned a nonprofit research organization, was similar in content and tone to articles about similar nonprofit research organizations.

I'd like to take up the issues with whoever can overturn this decision.

Thanks

Mfischhoff (talk) 19:37, 15 August 2008 (UTC) Martin Fischhoff —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mfischhoff (talk • contribs) 19:36, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

You can ask for a deletion review at WP:DRV. Note though that the other stuff exists argument doesn't carry much weight. – ukexpat (talk) 20:04, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

I suggest you review Wikipedia:Arguments to avoid in deletion discussions. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 20:54, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

If the article in question was A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute, then the admin who deleted it was Orangemike. A polite request on User talk:Orangemike will get you a copy of the deleted article if you need it, and Wikipedia:Notability (organizations and companies) may help you decide whether the subject is notable enough to warrant an attempt to recreate it in a form that satisfies Wikipedia guidelines and policies. Karenjc 19:11, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

INSERTING AN IMAGE

Hi, I am really sorry to trouble but I have spent hours trying to insert an image into an article. I have read the instructions carefully and been over them and labored but do not understand how it is done.

I have already been to Wikipedia Commons and uploaded an image but I am stick from there.

I a trying to insert a photograph of Jorge Carrera Andrade into his entry at Wikipedia.

After spending hours ttrying to do this I need help.

Thank you.

Steven Brown —Preceding unsigned comment added by Julia50 (talk • contribs) 19:42, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Just use it as if it were here on Wikipedia. — Navy  Blue  19:50, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

In other words add [[Image:nameofimage]] where you want the image to appear. You should probably also add the |thumb|right parameters too, [[Image:nameofimage|thumb|right]]. Note though that in infoboxes you just add the image name and not the [[Image: ]] (don't use the params either). – ukexpat (talk) 20:13, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Deleted edits?

Ok so I have this small question.. When does an edit become deleted? Is it when someone else reverts it? Thanks — Navy  Blue  19:44, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Edits are never really "deleted" - previous edits may not show in the current version of the article but they are (except in exceptional circumstances) still in the edit history. – ukexpat (talk) 20:08, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

No but like here [1] it says that I have 287 deleted edits. What are those? — Navy  Blue  20:17, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Edits to deleted articles...... Dendodge .. Talk^Contribs 20:19, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Which would of course include maintenance tags, speedy, PROD and Afd notices etc that you have added to articles that are subsequently deleted. – ukexpat (talk) 20:26, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Ohh thanks a lot! — Navy  Blue  20:28, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Kiyoshi Kawakubo

I am working on Kiyoshi Kawakubo on User:Kitty53/Test page. Can you help me with it? Thank you.Kitty53 (talk) 20:25, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

I added a link on the word: seiyuu. I'm not familiar with the subject matter, so that's all I've got. --Teratornis (talk) 02:43, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

Using Wikipedia content on other sites

I was asked a question on my talk page about using Wikipedia content on another site. While I can give feedback to them as to my current understanding of the license issues involved - I would feel more comfortable if someone else who may be more knowledgeable address it. The original question can be found here: User talk:Barek#Sturgeon Point Light and use of Wikipedia articles. If this should be directed to a different forum, please let me know. Thanks in advance for any assistance that can be provided. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 21:00, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:FAQ/Copyright. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 21:06, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the quick reply - I replied to the person who asked me about it over to refer to that FAQ. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 21:15, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

And now for the slow reply: more stuff is at WP:EIW#Reusing. --Teratornis (talk) 02:45, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

Editing the first section of a Talkpage

Hello,

I was trying to edit the Talkpage for Will Holt to change his status from "living person" but there is no "Edit This Page" at the top. All that's at the top of the page (in fact any Talkpage I go to) is Article / Discussion / New Section / History / Move / Watch (or Unwatch). I think there used to be an "Edit This Page" in the past, but it's not there now. So I don't know what's going on.

Thanks, in advance, for you help. --- Michael David (talk) 21:43, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

There certainly should be an edit link, and I'm seeing one, between 'discussion' and 'new section'. If you're not seeing it, you should file a bug report. Algebraist 21:49, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Why would you have a new section tab on an article page? --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 23:00, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

We're talking about Talk:Will Holt. What are you talking about? Algebraist 23:36, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Did you try any or all of: logging out and back in again, clearing your browser cache and purging the server cache?  – ukexpat (talk) 21:58, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Thanks to you all for your help; I will try your suggestions and if I still have a problem file a bug report. I'm running a geriatric Mac (or, rather, it's running me :-). I do plan to upgrade soon. I'm big on loyalty, though. In fact I still have an Apple LISA in the closet somewhere. She steadfastly got me through the VERY early days :-). Thanks again. --- Michael David (talk) 14:49, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

mr x22:23, 15 August 2008 (UTC)Wrestlerx (talk)

why does my addition to that listing keep getting deleted ????

Mister X is a disambiguation page and the purpose of such pages is only to guide readers to the right article about the "Mister X" they are interested in. Disambiguation pages should have very brief (usually one short line) entries with a link to a relevant Wikipedia article. See also Wikipedia:Manual of Style (disambiguation pages). Wikipedia is not a dictionary and doesn't try to list all meanings or occurrences of a term. Entries considered inappropriate for a disambiguation page may be removed. Sometimes a relevant but badly formatted entry is removed. Click the "history" tab at top to see the page history. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:38, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Link bot

Is there a Wikipedia bot that repairs links after an article has been moved? ChyranandChloe (talk) 22:33, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

They don't need repairing, that's what redirects are for. Algebraist 22:36, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

I'm talking about when you want to change the article name space, in which the redirect is going to be used for another article. ChyranandChloe (talk) 22:42, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Are you asking about your move of Tobacco over to Tobacco (agriculture)? I'm not aware of a bot, so I believe that you'll need to update the links manually. Otherwise, everything will remain pointed at the "Tobacco" page which is now a disambiguation. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 22:45, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

We can do a CSD move if that becomes a problem. Otherwise, over time people can change it. ChyranandChloe (talk) 22:50, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

I have moved it back per Wikipedia:Disambiguation#Primary topic. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:31, 15 August 2008 (UTC)