Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 December 20

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December 20

How to correct errors and upload photos?

I am a writer and historian, and wish to correct errors when I find them in some of your articles.

I also have a photograph for one of your articles, but when I try to upload I'm basically told to get lost.

What exactly do I have to do to provide you with a photo?

What exactly is the procedure for correcting factual errors in your articles?

You seem like some sort of secret lodge with all these levels and titles!

Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lauzerte (talk • contribs) 01:31, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Welcome to Wikipedia. I see on your talk page that someone has welcomed you. In that message are links to some of Wikipedia's policies, which I strongly encourage you to become familiar with; following that, be BOLD in editing pages! About the images: you have to have, I believe, 10 edits and have had an account for four days before you're allowed to upload anything. Hope this helps, Hermione1980 01:36, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes. But if your image is free, you can upload it to Commons. See our image policy for more info. Cheers.Chamal ^talk 01:48, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Red banner at bottom of article.

Hi. Under the external links of an article, I saw a red banner that said: "Preview (based on VirtualReferences.js by :de:User:ParaDox):". What is this for? Is it only visible to registered users, and why is it there, I've been missing out on things recently such as the switchover from Image: to File:? Thanks. ~AH1^(TCU) 01:44, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

What article? Algebraist 01:48, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

If you're talking about the thing on Megatsunami, my guess is it's part of some javascript-based way of always appending a reference list to previews for use while editing sections. Actually ending up in the article seems to be the result of a bug. Algebraist 01:55, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Confirmed. It's from User:FT2/scripts/previewrefs.js. Algebraist 01:58, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

And the reason Paradox name is on it is probably so people will contact him first when noting problems i.e. also contact Paradox in case he/she can fix it or their username is being used falsely. Nobody will fix or confirm the glitch without a link to the page. ~ R.T.G 03:52, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Information is found to be incorrect

the structure of Bortezomib is not corect in your page

plz edit that one

thanks & Regards <name and email removed> —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nareshvemula (talk • contribs) 02:09, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Go ahead and fix it. This is the encyclopedia that anyone can edit, which means anybody can fix something that they see is wrong. See here for help on editing. If you need anymore help, please ask here or from an experienced editor around here. And BTW, Please do not include contact details in your questions. We are unable to provide answers by any off-wiki medium and this page is highly visible across the internet. The details have been removed, but if you wish for them to be permanently removed from the page history, email this address. Cheers. Chamal ^talk 02:16, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

• Editing an image is not that straight forward. I've contacted the creator of the image. - Mgm|^(talk) 12:14, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Hungarian passports from the 1930s

I wanted to ask about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:14_year_old_Aranka_Siegal.jpg. What license should this be under? I have looked at it and would almost suggest public domain as it is a passport photo from a government agency. Guroadrunner (talk) 04:21, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

• The passport may have been a government document, but I see no evidence the government actually took the photograph. Also, Recent stuff by the US government is in public domain, but that doesn't neccesarily carry over to other governments especially when it is so long ago. I'd check to see the length of copyright in Hungary. - Mgm|^(talk) 12:09, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

archives search

What is the best place to find a dead link http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=318935 which is footnote 3 at Four Freedoms (Norman Rockwell)? Rosenkrantz, Linda (2006-11-13). "A Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving". Canton Repository. The Repository. Retrieved on 2008-04-07. —Preceding unsigned comment added by TonyTheTiger (talk • contribs) 04:40, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

• The resource exchange wikiproject should be able to help with so many details given about the source. I've got a link to it on my userpage (second pull down menu on the right, second item). - Mgm|^(talk) 12:06, 20 December 2008 (UTC)
  • What is the resource exchange wikiproject?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 00:02, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Universal notability?

Does Wikipedia have any policy towards the notability of foreign/non-English actors/models/entertainers? I've been browsing model stubs and have found a great deal of articles whose subjects have only a handful of dubious credits, all of which are non-English. Being that this is an English-language Wikipedia, I was wondering whether lesser levels of notability - i.e., the subject hasn't received noted international awards or been in major works recognized abroad - the subject might have in their home country automatically cross over (hence it's "universal"), or if criteria like a Google search bringing up no English-language reliable secondary sources nullifies it, being that the subject's notability is confined to their home country. Mbinebri (talk) 05:40, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Just some thoughts: my understanding is that they come under they same criteria as any other entertainer, and while the presence of English sources makes it easier to work on the articles and to demonstrate notability, it isn't required. I look at this as the "Wikipedia written in English", rather than the "Wikipedia about English Subjects" - although naturally the bias would tend towards English subjects anyway. (Although there is a sense in which you could argue it is the "Wikipedia written for English-language readers", which would thus encompass more than language choice, but that would require judgements about what is of interest, when potentially anything could be). - Bilby (talk) 05:57, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Nope, notable is notable, no matter where that notability is attained. And non-notable is non-notable. So if you're coming across questionable biographies, you should stick the appropriate template on the page and, ideally, notify any WikiProjects that might be interested. It's difficult to assess the notability of, say, a Turkish pop singer if you don't speak Turkish and the singer has received no non-Turkish press attention, so it's best to avoid nominating articles for deletion just because you can't personally confirm the reliability of the sources. It's worth taking the extra step to contact editors who speak the language and might be willing to help. But that's for referenced articles which seem possibly dubious. If the article is clearly non-notable, then by all means, nominate it for deletion! And give WP:NONENG and Wikipedia:WikiProject Countering systemic bias a read, while you're at it. --Fullobeans (talk) 07:41, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

• The above two editors are correct. While it is preferable to have English language sources in an English language article, you can have sources in other languages as well if there is no alternative and the geographical area a person or concept comes from has no bearing on its notability - Mgm|^(talk) 12:04, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Harry Meacher

Quite a few months ago when I was getting to grips with Wikipedia editing (my first draft was deleted because it followed the wording of a source too closely!), the very first article I initiated was on the British actor Harry Meacher. Several months ago it had a query for Notability placed at the head of it. It seems to me that the subject's notability is fairly well demonstrated by the article - without invidiously naming other subjects of articles, I feel: If this one is not notable, what the heck are X and Y doing on Wikipedia?? I really think the article should by now either be counted 'notable' or else deleted.

Rogersansom (talk) 12:52, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Your article doesn't have any references, and is therefore unverifiable. If articles are not backed by reliable sources they are likely to be regarded as non-notable, and deleted. Please see Wikipedia:Verifiability & Wikipedia:Citing sources for more info. Cheers. Chamal ^talk 13:02, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Cathodic protection

I wish to add a new article for the definition of "protección catódica" in spanish (cathodic protection in English), how can i do it?, the edit button only works to edit existing text but in this case there isn’t any text to edit.

the article I wish to upload is original material written by me.

regards. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cantojordi (talk • contribs) 14:40, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

We already have an article on cathodic protection; but please feel free to improve it. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 15:00, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

If the intended edit was to the Spanish wikipedia which has only a reedirect to a subsection of Corrosión, then you need to edit the redirect and add the text there to start a new article. Rmhermen (talk) 16:48, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Adding content

Is it possible for me submit an article about person/persons/companies etc to the site ?—Preceding unsigned comment added by Tuninghouse (talk • contribs)

Before creating an article, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.

Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.

If you still think an article is appropriate, see Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. – ukexpat (talk) 16:05, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Date of registration

How do you find out when a user registered with Wikipedia, even if they didn't edit until a few days later? 78.16.192.53 (talk) 16:33, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Special:Log has logs on all kinds of things a user did, including the actual creation of the account itself. --fvw* 16:38, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Note: testing it against my user name that system doesn't seem to have records earlier than 2004. Rmhermen (talk) 16:45, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Okay, thanks. It seems that it also records if a user created another account (I assume that's worked out by IP?) 78.16.192.53 (talk) 17:08, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

• No, anything a user does when logged in is linked to their account with cookies. It's nothing to do with IPs.- Mgm|^(talk) 17:35, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

It has nothing to do with cookies, MediaWiki just sees that the user is logged in and notes it. — neuro^(talk) 20:05, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

My new articles

How can I find out which articles I have created (not just edited, but created altogether)? Special:Contributions shows this, but it doesn't give an easy way to filter for just the new ones. Ryan Reich (talk) 17:07, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

• The toolserver appears to be suffering some difficulties at the moment, but when it is back up http://toolserver.org/~escaladix/larticles/ should be helpful. (It's better to keep a local manual backup and add an article to the list whenever you create one. That way you can properly sort them per topic area or per status (FA, GA, etc) - Mgm|^(talk) 17:33, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Page restore query

Resolved

 – --TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 00:04, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Can I request a page restoration just to figure out (for page history purposes) which Chris Young (it is now a dab) was deleted (as per its page log)?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 17:48, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

No need for a restoration, as shown here it was about an NFL player. — neuro^(talk) 20:04, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

The question is apparently about the deletion shown in [1]. It was unsourced and rather nonsensical, maybe a prank by somebody who knows a non-notable person by that name. Restoration would violate WP:BLP and Wikipedia:Attack page in case it's a real person although that is uncertain. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:10, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia is archived by some companies like Google but only for a few months and somebody else in the know will have to tell you how to access it. ~ R.T.G 02:11, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Neurolysis gave me my answer.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 00:04, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

I don't think so if you referred to the version deleted 8 July 2005.[2] It contained lots of nonsense and nothing indicating the subject is a football player. It started "Chris young came into this world young, confused and surrounded my females. He grew chest hair by the age of four, got his first hernia at age six". And that was the most sensible part. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:32, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Content Editing help

Hello,

Where do I go to ask an editor for help with the content of an article that I am writing? It's been deleted twice for advertising (I re-wrote it before posting a second time on a subpage that I created). Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Lisa

Lizpabon (talk) 23:01, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

I'll help, messaging on talk. — neuro^(talk) 23:13, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

• There's several things you can do:

1. Carefully read appropriate policy pages. Since you are the author of the book in question, you're right in asking others to review the entry before posting it. (WP:COI).
2. The notability guideline for books (WP:BK) should be taken into account.
3. The last version you wrote still suffers from non-neutral language. WP:NPOV applies here. Don't say how wonderful and amazing something is and don't try to promote it. Just state the bare facts.
4. Have a look at other articles about books especially any good articles and featured articles we may have. They show what a book article should say and more importantly should avoid saying.
5. If you're here primarily to promote your own book, it's best to stop trying, because that conflicts with Wikipedia's goals. - Mgm|^(talk) 23:19, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Talk Page Template

I've seen on several talk pages a template that basically says: If you leave me a message here, I will respond here. If I leave you a message on your talk page, please respond there. I can't recall which pages I saw it on, so I was just wondering what the name of it was. Thanks, Genius101^Guestbook 23:19, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

{{Usertalkback}}. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:57, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Thank you! Genius101^Guestbook 17:28, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

You also use an editnotice. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 12:31, 22 December 2008 (UTC)