Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 August 3

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August 3

Assessment Table

How do I get an assessment table like in Wikipedia:WikiProject_Canadian_music to be made for a WikiProject. I want to use it in User:Grk1011/Drafts. Grk1011 (talk) 02:28, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

The bot that compiles all that information is part of the Version 1.0 Editorial Team. You can find information about getting it to do work for you Wikiproject at Wikipedia:Version_1.0_Editorial_Team/FAQs#How_can_I_get_my_project_set_up_to_use_the_bot.3F. -- Natalya 02:36, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Right-aligning text

1.<center> aligns text centrally. What aligns text right? 2. Is there a central page listing all these bracketed functions so that I need not bother you further? Vielen dank, Skomorokh 03:51, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Right aligned text in a table:

right aligned text

As for entire paragraphs, etc. ...

This will do the trick.

Copy-paste the code. I'm afraid there isn't a HTML tag that does right-alignment, so we have to use inline CSS to format existing HTML tags like <p></p>(paragraph tag) and tables. CSS can be learned in a bunch of ways, I personally use http://www.lissaexplains.com/css.shtml Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 03:59, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

I see. Very helpful, thanks Calvin. Skomorokh 04:14, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Tool

Is there any tool by which I can view in which articles one particular reference is used. For example I want to know how many articles in wikipedia use BBC News as reference. Is there any tool by which I can know this? Otolemur crassicaudatus (talk) 03:53, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Not a tool, but a quick and dirty trick is Special:WhatLinksHere/BBC News. Of course this only works where the source is wikilinked, and may have a low signal to noise ratio for highly notable sources. Skomorokh 03:56, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Special:Linksearch could be used for this purpose. Someguy1221 (talk) 03:57, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Oh, and that can only be used when the page hosts an external link to the source. So there will be pages that won't show up, and for sources not hosted on a unique website, or on no website at all, this will be completely futile. Someguy1221 (talk) 04:03, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Are these albums notable?

Back in the 70's there was a series of albums called Top of the Pops. They consisting of covers of the biggest hits of the day, and actually outsold many of the original singles, and 2 actually hit No.1 on the UK albums charts. Is it OK if I create articles on the more notable volumes? I've created articles on a few but I want to check that it's OK. Retro Agnostic (talk) 04:48, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Based on your description, they sound notable enough, provided you can find sufficient sources to support your article. WP:MUSIC (Which I'm sure you've read, but) does specify that you need to include a fair bit of information, or it may be redirected to the artist. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 04:54, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. I know a fair bit about the albums, with the most notable being very well documented, both on Allmusic, and the band leader's website. I'll start creating articles on the more important issues soon, thanks! Retro Agnostic (talk) 12:32, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Ah memories! I had quite a few of those albums, they may still be around here somewhere - thanks for the reminder! – ukexpat (talk) 15:11, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

What's wrong with this page?

Speed reading. --Leladax (talk) 07:19, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

The entire page was in an infobox, Probably WP:VANDALISM. User:L'Aquatique fixed it! =) Neuro√Logic 07:25, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

The closing tags of the navbox had been removed... I suspect it may have been a test edit- the ip had never been warned before. In any case, it's been fixed and the editor warned. Nice catch- L'Aquatique[talk] 07:27, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Hey I don't see any edit, how was it fixed. --Leladax (talk) 09:02, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

See this edit at {{Reading}}. --Silver Edge (talk) 09:16, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

oh, I imagined something like that, I just didn't expect it to be true: every page with that template having a problem. --Leladax (talk) 10:26, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Logos

Is it possible to upload a few logos from German schools on the English Wikipedia? All these schools have got an article here. These logos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. If it is possible to upload, which license I have to choose? Maybe “Non-free / fair use” → “Logo”? (By the way: I have asked the question already on Wikipedia:Media copyright questions but I did not got an answer.) — PsY.cHo, 08:39, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Templates - compare character strings?

I've just written {{UK charity}} and {{Scottish charity}}, which take as input a charity's registration number and produce a useful external link to their records on the appropriate regulatory site. I'd like to make them into a single template. To do this I need to check whether the first 2 characters of the registration number, parameter 1, are "SC". I've rummaged around the help files and can find ways to do arithmetical comparisons, but not a string comparison. Is there a way to do this, so that I can have a formula like

{{#ifeq [the first 2 characters of the parameter] |SC| [the current scottish template] | [the current England and Wales template]}}

Any ideas? PamD (talk) 08:52, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

I don't think that is possible. There is a mw:Extension:StringFunctions in development, but it is not yet enabled. The best you might be able to do for now is to have a parameter for both numbers. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 13:42, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. That's disappointing - but encouraging in that I hadn't missed anything in the help system, it just isn't there as a possibility. I'll have to have a "Scotland" parameter. PamD (talk) 15:41, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

What happened to the Emperor of Mankind page?

Why was the page for the Emperor of Mankind from Warhammer 40,000 deleted? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.16.170.55 (talk) 09:16, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Emperor of Mankind. --Silver Edge (talk) 09:20, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

External Namespace question

Trying to get to The Golem: It!, to check the status of a fair use image, I typed "Golem: It!" into the search bar, and was directed to a "Gruppo Operativo Linux Empoli" wiki. Is this really what should happen? Is there a list of all namespaces that get redirected externally? Thanks --Storkk (talk) 09:23, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

I was going to say no, but that search (using the go button) does indeeed take one to the off wikipedia wiki you named which is unassociated with Wikipedia. I dindlt think that was supposed to happen and may be the fruit of some type of vandalism. I'm going to post this at the village pump technical.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 11:20, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Okay, posted at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#Page redirecting to external unaffiliated site.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 11:29, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Responded [1]. See meta:Interwiki map. -- zzuuzz ^(talk) 11:55, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Okay. So to answer the OP, we have certain prefixes called interwikis that define an external site to be taken to when a defined prefix is used. For example, wiktionary:it when made a link or typed into the search box with the Go button, takes one to Wiktionary's page for the word "it" (which can also be done with just "wikt:"). The page zzuuzz links above defines current interwikis, one of which is golem. Though currently that page is edit protected and all interwikis must be suggested for inclusion on the talk page and meet certain criteria, it appears this wasn't the case in the past. That interwiki was added by an Ip back in November, 2005 (diff). I'm not clear on the utility of interwikis to third party sites such as this one, but that's what's going on.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:35, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

User ID

Is there a way for someone to view your personal User ID, or is it only avaliable to you? MattWT (talk) 10:15, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

The IP addresss associated with your account is hidden when you edit from your account as you did here. There are a small number of users who have checkuser rights who are permitted to examine user IP information and other server log data but only under under certain circumstances, for the purposes of protecting Wikipedia against actual and potential disruption and abuse. Other than that, so long as you edit while logged into your account, it's quite anonymous. Your account page, on the other hand, is immediately accessible simply by clicking on your linked signature, which ends your post above. Does that answer your question?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 11:11, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Oh yes, I understand that. I meant the user ID thats shown under your username in the my preferences tab. Thanks, and sorry for not making my question clear enough! MattWT (talk) 11:23, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Some edit counters will return user's internal IDs when running a report, so there must be a way to get the information from the database. Fear not, though, I'm pretty sure that no harm can come from others knowing your ID. —[DeadEyeArrow – Talk – Contribs] 11:38, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

(e/c) No, you were perfectly clear. In preferences each user does have a User ID, called exactly that. My ignorance on the subject led me to the post above. One of the great things about the help desk is learning new stuff from the questions. I'll let someone who knows the answer take it from here:-)--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 11:42, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

I would have made the same mistake had I been the one kind enough to answer. The help desk is made to help new users, and i'd expect a whole barrage of names for an IP address. Thank you very much! The reason I ask is because i'd like to use it as a password for other sites (as it would always be avaliable to me here, easily and it pretty much unguessable), but if it is made publicly somewhere i'd rather not. Thanks once again, MattWT (talk) 12:03, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Thank you DeadEyeArrow for clearing that up! I guess i'll find another seemingly strong password :) MattWT (talk) 12:05, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

motorcycle reg: 8053

hi ive recently bought the above bike from a man in guernsey is it at all possible for me to keep the reg as it is and ride it in uk, thanks garethm j.t. lewis89.243.34.93 (talk) 11:41, 3 August 2008 (UTC)g89.243.34.93 (talk) 11:41, 3 August 2008 (UTC)m

Have you tried the miscellaneous section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there; this help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia. For your convenience, here is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 11:43, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

My goof

In trying to clarify some information about an article on the Durham Herald-Sun, I inadvertantly may have whapped your article. I was trying to clarify the status of three copy editors and instead placed the correction over where the article was supposed to appear. If you have a backup of the article, you may need to pull it ASAP. I should have made the clarification on the discussion page, but I was using the editing tool for the first time and hit the wrong button. Again, my apologies.

Peoplearewatching1 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Peoplearewatching1 (talk • contribs) 14:29, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

You mean this article - The Herald-Sun (Durham, North Carolina)? No harm, no foul. All the previous versions of all articles are kept to hand (and can be seen by clicking on the "history" tab at the top of the page. I've undone your edit and restored the article to its former state - thanks for letting us know. _Gb^T/c 14:31, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

To learn more about how Wikipedia lets any user fix these kinds of accidents, see Help:History and Help:Reverting. Not surprisingly, these tools also let us defend Wikipedia against deliberate damaging. --Teratornis (talk) 17:22, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Reporting someone who vandalizes or adds other inappropriate material

Hi! How do I report someone who has "vandalizes" an article or adds other bad material? Specifically, User:Swcho0719 keeps adding material which is clearly meant to advance his political position and isn't appropriate for Wikipedia. Magog the Ogre (talk) 18:42, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Well, clear vandalism can be reported to WP:AIV. However, please look closely at the definition of vandalism on that page before reporting. Tan ǀ 39 18:45, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

OK. I will place a warning on this user's page (I think Template:Uw-npov1 is correct) - I just hope it's OK with me as a new user. Magog the Ogre (talk) 18:50, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

One of wikipedia's key ideas is about Being Bold! If it is possible to help Wikipedia in any way, any member may do it :D NuclearWarfare ^{contact me}_{My work} 19:50, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Which version of English for EU citizens?

If an article is about a citizen from within the EU, which language should it be written in- British English or American English? Thanks 80.7.186.169 (talk) 21:00, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

In general. articles on topics that have strong ties to a particular English-speaking nation should use the appropriate variety of English for that nation. See Wikipedia:Manual of Style#National varieties of English. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 21:41, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

If the subject does not have particularly strong ties to one variety or another, the original author(s) of the article should make a choice, and modifying editors should maintain that choice. —teb728 t c 21:51, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

This is confusing

Resolved

Excuse me, but one of my subpages got deleted and i would like to see it again for a while so i can put it on a text file or another wiki. I have been searching for ages but i can't find the link! Please help me! IL7Soulhunter's extra account (talk) Yes, really. 22:38, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Restored. You might want to inquire why User:Cream tagged it as G6. Tan ǀ 39 22:43, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Template searching

Is there a template lurking about that will return the number of # enumerations on a |page (return the count based on #'s entries)? Thanks in advance for thinking about it, -hydnjo talk 23:19, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

If there is, that would be news to me. Templates generally have to work with the capabilities of wikitext markup and Magic words, and I don't think any of them can count the numbered list items on a page. That is, templates can only do what you can do with your own code on a page. It might be possible to do this with an extension, but on Wikipedia we can only use the extensions that the sysops install (see Special:Version for a list of what's here). Can you tell us why you want to count these items? And on how many pages do you want to count? --Teratornis (talk) 03:35, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

Not particularly important and I'd not want any energy spent on it. If one existed, I'd use it to keep a tally here, one page only. I'm not a template guy so I thought I'd ask. Thanks very much for explaining the complexity of doing and it makes no sense to even think about it for this one application. -hydnjo talk 04:43, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

That example (User:Hydnjo/RD regulars) illustrates the problem better. It might be possible to count the number of numbered list entries on a page by downloading the rendered HTML with a program such as wget to your Unix or Unix-like computer, and using a command pipeline to look for (with grep) and count (with wc) the lines having HTML patterns similar to this:

<li><a href="/wiki/User:Alteripse" title="User:Alteripse">alteripse</a><br /></li>

It looks like the only slight difficulty would be to count only lines inside an <ol>...</ol> tag. You might have to use sed for that. If I were slightly more motivated, I'd consider banging on it for a few minutes. However, such a method would not go into a template, since it would be running on your computer rather than on Wikipedia. Another possibility might be to count the list items with a Javascript program. Or maybe some query method can count strings on a single page. --Teratornis (talk) 06:03, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

Nah, please don't bother, I only asked just in case something existed. Thanks though for giving it some thought, hydnjo talk 13:37, 4 August 2008 (UTC)