Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 August 25

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August 25

Q about Sex

Please excuse me if you find this rather peverse, but I was wondeing about something and could not find the answer on WP. Basically everytime I have sex with my girlfriend she goes to the bathroom straight after. What does she do in there? I mean when a guy ejaculates inside a woman, does the semen usually stay inside her, or do women go to the bathroom go pass out the ejaculate? I never really understood and i'm too scared to ask my gf. Thanks. Mike. 79.75.172.239 (talk) 00:05, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

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. Algebraist 00:06, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

In the seemingly unlikely event that this question is serious, you could try asking Ruth Westheimer, if she's still doing her call-in show. Another option is to read the Creampie (sexual act) article. (Wow, Wikipedia sure is not censored.) --Teratornis (talk) 02:38, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Making an Infobox for RPG Character Pages

How do you make an infobox? I've tried copying people's and modifying it, it never works right, need help! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 214.13.167.252 (talk) 02:30, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

If you create an account, you can experiment by editing test templates on a user sandbox page. (See Help:User page, Help:Subpage, and WP:SANDBOX.) Then other people could see what you are doing and help you. If you want to figure it all out by reading the friendly manuals, start with Help:Template and WP:EIW#Infobox. You could join Wikipedia:WikiProject Infoboxes. --Teratornis (talk) 02:44, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Do you want to add an existing infobox (for example {{Infobox character}}) to an article, or do you want to create a new type of infobox? The reply by Teratornis assumes the latter which is much harder. If it's the former then say which article you want an infobox in, and we may be able to help much better. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:55, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Del image moved to commons

This image is both in Wikipedia and in Commons. Will deleting it from Wikipedia cause the commons image to instamagically be used anywhere the original image is currently in use? -- kainaw™ 02:40, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

That's the way I'd guess, but neither WP:COMMONS nor Wikipedia:Moving images to the Commons seem to come right out and say that. (It seems, however, that moving an image to the Commons would often test the very case you are asking about, and this seems to be a routine operation, so it's hard to imagine an answer to your question other than "yes.") An explicit answer may be hiding in one of the links under WP:EIW#Commons. If you don't get a satisfying answer here, you could ask on Wikipedia talk:Wikimedia Commons. --Teratornis (talk) 02:54, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

As the wikicode for using images in an article is the same for images hosted on En WP and on Commons, my guess is that as soon as the WP image is deleted, the Commons one "takes over". – ukexpat (talk) 03:35, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps it takes time. The wikipedia image was deleted and now the article has a broken image link. -- kainaw™ 04:14, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Actually, it appears that whomever moved it to commons did not move it properly. The SVG wasn't uploaded, just a png of it. So, now it can't create thumbnails. I wonder if I have the original SVG floating around somewhere... -- kainaw™ 04:17, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Off topic child support request for legal advice from an anonymous user

How do I cange my child support if I'M not making the same amount.What do I need to do to change my vistation day,to every other weekend,instead of the one I have now —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.94.69.60 (talk) 03:05, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, it sounds like you are asking for legal advice and we cannot give it. Please consult your attorney. – ukexpat (talk) 03:35, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

ATP (airline transport pilot’s license) equivalent degree

A year ago I did a Google search on the ATP (airline transport pilot’s license) equivalent degree and on your site I found very helpful information. I wanted to use those facts again, but… for one or the other reason I could not find it again. (I've done the search on Wikipedia.)

Do you have any idea where I can find that info? 66.156.87.224 (talk) 04:02, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

The search came up that an “ATP license” is equivalent to a masters degree. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.156.87.224 (talk) 04:01, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Maybe this is what you are looking for: Airline_Transport_Pilot_License? And that article does not mention anything about it being equivalent to a masters degree.

Cheers mate!

Λuα ^{(Operibus anteire)} 04:08, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Name order on articles created by categorization

I added additional categories for the article page "Robert Mac" specifically United States presidential candidates, 2008, American stand-up comedians and People from Tucson, Arizona. His name appears alphabetized by first name whereas the others are by last name (there is not yet any entry in the List of People from Tucson, Arizona). How do I get his name to be listed by last name like the others?Mickmastor (talk) 04:37, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Fixed. Type {{DEFAULTSORT:Last name, First name}} (in this case {{DEFAULTSORT:Mac, Robert}}. If you only want to change how he is alphabetized in a single category, then it would be [[Category:1968 births|Mac, Robert]], but since this applies to all the categories he is in, we use {{DEFAULTSORT}}. — Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 05:01, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Redirect templates

The third hatnote at Cloud Gate has a double period because it wants me to add text after saying "X redirects here."--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 05:35, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

"X redirects here" without further text does not seem useful. That is probably the reason that there is no template for that (see Template:Otheruses_templates#Redirect).--Patrick (talk) 06:31, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

How to create and edit my Wikipedia page

I am attempting to create a page and upload my photograh and biography and I am unable to find the right section.

Could you please assist..?

Thank you

Raphael —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ralouis (talk • contribs) 07:47, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

It looks like you already wrote your biography (User:Ralouis). Start at Wikipedia:Upload to upload a photograph. — Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 08:04, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Also note that your account needs to be 4 days old and you'll need to acquire 10 edits before you can upload an image —— RyanLupin • (talk)

Also see Wikipedia:Autobiography. User:Ralouis is clearly written with a strong conflict of interest and would be completely unsuited as a Wikipedia article. It could also be deleted as a user page. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:16, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

If you are looking for somewhere to post your biography, please take a look at http://wikibios.com and http://wikipopuli.com .  – ukexpat (talk) 15:55, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Article creation request

Can you please add an article about the five fuwa like, one article for Beibei,another article for Jingjing, an article for Huanhuan, an article for Yingying and Nini? It is for my Beijing project. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lesleyrox (talk • contribs) 08:39, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

We have an article on Fuwa. Each "Fuwa" is not notable enough (nor would there be enough suitable information) to warrant separate articles. — Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 08:44, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Carmen Cavallaro - ?

Article is cut and pasted entirely from www.activemusician.com

Is that okay or not?

The only thing that is original about the article is the reference cited. (I did that.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Foreveroptimist (talk • contribs) 10:16, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Looking at the active musician website, and it's biographies for other artists, I suspect it's the other way around - they appear to be copying Wikipedia entries without giving the usual licences. Anyone else got a view on this? _Gb^T/c 10:25, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

The Wikipedia article sites NO references. Don't you think that's a little odd? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Foreveroptimist (talk • contribs) 10:32, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

I might agree with you if the writer of the Wikipedia article has cited any references. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Foreveroptimist (talk • contribs) 10:35, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

The greatest match between Carmen Cavallaro and http://www.activemusician.com/Carmen-Cavallaro-Biography--t8i506 appears to be right after this edit where Wikipedia italicized The Eddy Duchin Story like it is at activemusician. Based on that my guess would be that activemusician copied that version of our article. If it had been the other way around then I would expect the greatest match right after the creation or a big rewrite of our article. Their page is not in the Internet Archive so I haven't been able to test whether we came first. Our article was mainly written by User:Musicmaker. If you really want to know then you could try posting to User talk:Musicmaker, but note that Special:Contributions/Musicmaker shows long periods between edits. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:59, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Auto-Wikibreak

is it possible to set up a function which automatically puts the wikibreak notification on my page during my holidays? ATMarsden ^{Whadda ya want?} 13:26, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Image Question

Help! I'm a new user, and am having trouble with an image I uploaded.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:1917_-_New_Rockland_Trust_Bank_Bldg_288_Union_St.jpg

(sorry for the URL - I don't know how to do Wikilinks yet)

Why doesn't this image appear on the page? If I make a gif, it shows up. Otherwise, the JPG doesn't seem to work. I've uploaded other JPGs -- most, but not all -- are just fine

Any suggestions welcome!

Pames (talk) 13:52, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Image:1917 - New Rockland Trust Bank Bldg 288 Union St.jpg is displaying fine for me in the gallery in Rockland Trust Company. Have you tried clearing your cache? Algebraist 13:54, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

It's not working for me after clearing my browser cache and purging the server cache. When I click on the raw image link here I get a message about errors in the image. – ukexpat (talk) 16:01, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

This seems to be browser-dependent: it's fine in Firefox and Opera, broken in IE, and appears in black and white for some reason in Safari (all on WinXP). Should probably take this to the village pump, or somewhere where they know about jpgs. Algebraist 17:02, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Weeeeeell, I use Firefox and it's still broken... – ukexpat (talk) 19:27, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

So much for that theory, then (unless you don't use 3.0.1). Algebraist 22:46, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

There was a broken configuration setting on the last software update, should be fixed now. Mr.Z-man 22:54, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Still broken for me on IE and Safari. Bypassing cache doesn't fix it. Algebraist 00:23, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

And still broken for me in Firefox 2.0.0.16. – ukexpat (talk) 02:40, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Ok, time to take this to WP:VPT. Algebraist 02:42, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Auto-date

I heard that the linking is now "not encouraged", so now users are going everywhere unlinking all dates leaving most without commas and horribly incorrect. I think it was stupid to change that, I mean so what if only registered users can see it, they're the ones that wiki means the most to. What an inconvenience. ps, where whould I say this. Grk1011/Stephen (talk) 14:01, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

The guideline for dates is at Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dates and numbers) and there is lots of discussion about date formatting at Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style (dates and numbers). PrimeHunter (talk) 14:21, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Insert box doesn't work for me

What's with the "insert box"? That's the box under the window where we type in changes and so on (where I'm typing this right now) and immediately under the bold face Do not copy text... warning.

It used to have a long list of symbols, including letters with macrons (which I use frequently since I contribute to several articles about Japanese culture), but not any more. Now it has a pull down menu and a list of a few symbols plus a lot of empty square boxes that don't give anything when you select them. Most of the pull-down menu items are just as bad, except for "Wiki markup," which has a list of Wiki markup symbols.

Timothy Perper (talk) 14:15, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

There should be a drop down menu which gives more options. Is that what you're referring to? Zain Ebrahim (talk) 14:21, 25 August 2008 (UTC) Scratch that. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 14:23, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

There is discussion about the changes at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#New edit tools enabled for everyone and elsewhere on that page. Do you have JavaScript? PrimeHunter (talk) 14:26, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I have Java Script and it's enabled right now -- and box is no good. When I disable Java Script, it's still no good. I'm sorry to say that the material at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#New edit tools enabled for everyone didn't help at all. I'm not sure I follow much of it anyway. I think I'll copy this discussion over to that page. But that won't solve the problem. Timothy Perper (talk) 14:34, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

FA assessment

Hi! What is FA assessment? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.40.12.39 (talk) 14:43, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

See WP:FA? Tan ǀ 39 14:44, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

royally pension on non-free media files

Does Wikipedia will pay royally pension on non-free (including fair use and other) media files as a compensionsion? it is a payment of using non-free media files such images or sounds etc. such like Public Lending Rights payment made by some libraries. Thank you.

Wikipedia should be know how many each files is being browsed or used like all other sites all over the Internet.

In simple question is WILL WIKIPEDIA PAY PENSION ON ANY NON-FREE METERIALS ON IT? RushdimIDlike (talk) 15:05, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Nope. Tan ǀ 39 15:07, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

No. Non-free media is licensed under a fair use rational Bvlax2005 (talk) 15:10, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Changing wikipedia picture

I want to change my user ppicture for Kareena (on sage) to my current picture. But I forget how I added teh pic. Can you help? Thanks, Kar —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.22.76.61 (talk) 15:28, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Uploading images, but I'm not sure what you refer to. Do you have a user account here at the encyclopedia Wikipedia? If so then what is the user name? If you are referring to something else, for example the fictional ocean Sage in Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates which is unrelated to Wikipedia then I cannot help. You could try asking at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing but it might be better to find a site about the game. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:57, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Vandalism

What's the proper thing to do when someone is undoing automated vandalism fixes, such as at today's featured article Diary of a Camper? User OSx86 has been warned about such stuff before, but I don't want to get caught in an edit war. jeffjon (talk) 16:08, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Well, if they are vandalizing a page, restoring the correct version is not considered edit warring. You can report the incident to WP:AIV as well, if you would like an admin to review the situation. I hope this helps! TN‑X-Man 16:15, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

User: OSx86 has been indefinitely blocked. Jauerback^dude?/_dude. 18:52, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Rights to an article

I am writng a restaurant-recipe book and would like to use some of the articles as food trivia in my book.

I have no problem stating in my book that Wikipedia is my source for this information; however, I want to make sure that I have the right to use these articles.

I realize that all articles may not be correct but I would be stating that "according to an article on Wikipedia website, the following is a history of the Po-Boy etc."

Thank you for your help,

L —Preceding unsigned comment added by Leschler (talk • contribs) 16:29, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Please take a look at this page for guidance on the reuse of Wikipedia content. – ukexpat (talk) 17:06, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

How do I create a "floating quote" of under 50 words?

Resolved

I would like to insert a quote of six lines which exceed the limits of the Rquote width (because each line requires a distinct line break not permitted by the Rquote parameter). Inaddition, I would like the quote to be aligned "right" very similar to the Rquote example HERE— with the exception of reducing the size of the quotation marks. Lastly, I would like my quote to be "floated" in a similar manner as the example of a "floating table" as seen HERE under the Heading, Floating Table. I have racked my brain for hours and I am in need of much help. Thank you. Hag2 (talk) 16:54, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

<blockquote> <div style="text-align: right; direction: ltr; margin-left: 1em;"> TEXT </div> </blockquote> Dendodge|Talk^Contribs 17:57, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

---

<blockquote> <div style="text-align: left; direction: ltr; margin-left: 20em;"> TEXT </div> </blockquote>

well, the above-alterations (i.e. text-align:left; and margin-left:20em) produce something on the rightside of my screen which is about 30%-close to what I require (i.e. I would like to move it farther to the right). If we threw a border around it and "floated it" so that another, larger paragraph would then read above it and below it and to the left, we would have what I require. Hag2 (talk) 18:26, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Try {{quote box2}} and enclose your text in <poem>...</poem> to maintain line breaks. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 19:22, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Gadget, Quotebox2 is good! I can work with that I think. Do you have any idea how I can create a set of quotation marks similar to the Rquote marks, but smaller, and maybe light grey? Hag2 (talk) 19:56, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

I fiddled around and did a sample at the bottom of Template:Quote box2/examples, but the alignment is off. Rquote is actually a three column template with the quote symbols in the left and right columns. Please refer to WP:MOSQUOTE for the proper use of pull quotes. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 20:44, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Fantastic! Much appreciated! Thanks. Hag2 (talk) 15:10, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

On reporting vandalism

I would like to know what the best way is to report vandalism, particularly new vandals.

In the past, I have reported this to specific Admins, but there has to be a better way.

For example, if a new anonymous user has just made a single contribution, which is an act of vandalism, I can reverse it, of course, but I would also like to report it. Is there an easy way of doing that?

See, for example, Special:Contributions/68.53.40.110. What is the Wikipedia policy in a case like that? Wait for repeated instances? How many repeated instances are required before an anonymous IP address is blocked?

Thank you very much, Pasquale (talk) 19:38, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

WP:AIV is the best location. Corvus cornix_talk 19:48, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

See also Wikipedia:Vandalism. Often it's best to start by just giving warnings (which anybody can do) to new vandals. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:28, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Email Notifications of Article Edits

I'm trying to determine the settings that allow me to track articles via email notifications. If that is not possible, I'd like to determine the best way to manage a wide variety of articles that I have contributed to or am interested in following on an ongoing basis.

--Sbanker (talk) 19:41, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

It isn't possible. Well, it is but that function has been turned off due to the sheer number of edits that happen every minute. The servers couldn't take all that emailing. The best way to watch articles is with your WP:WATCHLIST. Dismas|^(talk) 19:54, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Use the RSS Feed, found on the history tab. --h2g2bob (talk) 19:58, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Evidence that smoking causes cancer?

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

---

Please now, the Help Desk is not for content disputes. That is exactly what Talk:Health effects of tobacco is for. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 20:19, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

I deleted most of the stuff on Health effects of tobacco because there is no real evidence that smoking causes cancer, yet some guy reverted my deletion.. why? --OuijaBoardOuijaBoard (talk) 19:46, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

And you got reverted by two different editors because you are removing cited material without discussion. Corvus cornix_talk 19:48, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

The 'cited material' is merely properganda by liberal hippy douches. I demand and apology. --OuijaBoardOuijaBoard (talk) 19:52, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

And that ends this discussion. OuijaBoard: if you really have any desire to contribute, then you'll take the discussion to the Talk:Health effects of tobacco page. Exploding Boy (talk) 19:53, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

No it does not end the discussion. I have yet to see evidence that smoking is harmful. I smoke a pack a day and I am as fit as a fiddle. --OuijaBoardOuijaBoard (talk) 19:54, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Anecdotal stories are not a reliable published source. This is not a forum, nor is it the place to discuss the article content. Please discuss this in the article talk page as noted. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 20:01, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Getting an account20:00, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

I can't get goung: it constantly starts me over67.188.113.130 (talk)

Do you get any error message? Take a look at Wikipedia:Why create an account? for some ideas of things that could go wrong. You can also go to WP:ACC and request an account. Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 20:10, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Which user name are you trying to get? See also Help:Logging in. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:24, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Image not displayed?

Resolved

I'm using Firefox v3.0.1, and it's not showing any pictures on Wikipedia. I can see the thumbnails, but when I go to see a closer look, (and I click on it), it just shows the picture box (checkered) and a link to the page within the box. Does anyone know a fix to this problem, or is it a bug?

L337*P4wn 21:50, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

I just noticed that I'm having similar problems. Should be fixed somewhat soon (probably temporary bug). Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 21:54, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

I'm also using Firefox version 3, and it's been working for me all the time, but not today. How weird... (I also posted this on WP:VP/T) SchfiftyThree 21:55, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Heh, glad It wasn't just me. xD L337*P4wn 21:57, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Fixed! L337*P4wn 22:12, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Comment - nope not fixed for me, Firefox 2.0.0.16. – ukexpat (talk) 14:29, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Unreferenced template problem

I added an unreferenced tag to An All Dogs Christmas Carol which made the movie poster blank. Schuym1 (talk) 21:58, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Heh, no, it's because images have temporarily broke (all images except thumbnails). Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 22:03, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

As seen above, it's fixed. Try a purge or cache-bypass if it still doesn't work for you. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 22:15, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia Toolbar

Do you have a toolbar or other such add-on that would allow me to type in a subject and go directly to an article?

24.86.254.189 (talk) 23:28, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

This can be done in several ways. For example, in Firefox, you can set the search bar to search Wikipedia by default, or you can use a keyword-linked bookmark pointing to (say) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search/%s. Algebraist 23:32, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

I am a Firefox user so I only know ways to achieve this in Firefox. There are 3 ways to do this: 1) The search box to the right of your address bar can be changed to search Wikipedia. 2)Create a bookmark to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=%s Go to your bookmarks menu and right click this bookmark and enter something into the "keywork" section. After you have done this you can enter "keywork John Doe" into your address bar and it would automatically go to the Wikipedia article. 3) There is a third-party extension for Firefox available here. Bvlax2005 (talk) 02:40, 26 August 2008 (UTC)