Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 December 9

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December 9

Vandalism on user page

Hello i keep getting vandalized on my user page, this time by a Ssjgoku420. I had semi-protected the page in the past. How do i get this perma-protected and/or delete the user page? Thanks

--larsinio (poke)^(prod) 18:09, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Looks like it's already done, just for reference. – Alex43223 ^{T | C | E} 01:33, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Unifying account has given me two usernames

I unified my account from the Spanish Wikipedia, which went through successfully. My username here is different than the one I have on other Wikimedia projects and on other Wikipedias, but the emails and passwords are all the same. I can now log in here with Bellito, or B3llit0, but logging in with B3llit0 doesn't give me any of the various settings and scripts of the other account. What's wrong here, and how do I get it fixed? B3llit0 (talk) 01:01, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

There are various settings that can be modified on en Wikipedia, they can be found in Special:Preferences. Hope that helps.--intraining ^{Jack In} 04:17, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Despite having the same emails and passwords those are two different accounts. It is unfortunate that you didn't rename your English Wikipedia account to the same name as your Spanish Wikipedia account before unification. Because you didn't, your English Wikipedia account was not unified with you Spanish Wikipedia account. Instead you got a new account with the same name as the unified account. —teb728 t c 05:03, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Is there any way I can get one or the other renamed (I'd like to rename this one) and have it work? I know that it's possible to move edits, as is done when renaming users, and it wouldn't be too hard to move my user pages to the new ones. (Yes, this post is from my other account.) ベリット ^話せます 06:49, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Try posting a request at Wikipedia:Changing username/SUL. It might be necessary to ununify your accounts first, but I should think they could handle that there too if you persuade them both accounts are you. —teb728 t c 23:29, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

"Encore Suites" page

Hello,

There is currently a page live for Encore Las Vegas that is titled "Encore Suites": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encore_Suites.

This is the incorrect name of the hotel and while we are able to edit other information, we are not able to edit the title. How would we go about correcting the title?

Thank you!

When a title is incorrect, assuming your account is at least 4 days old, you can click the "move" tab at the top of the page to move it to a new name and leave the old page as a redirect to the new one. B3llit0 (talk) 01:14, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Tag requested

Hello. There two articles, A. B. Swindell & Abaidas, that I think deserves more biographical information on it. Is there anybody considerate enough that will side with me and place a tag on them?--Archaeopteryx (talk) 01:32, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Well they both have stub templates and {{expand}} so not sure what else can be done until someone plunges in and add more details. – ukexpat (talk) 01:41, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

(e/c) I added {{expand}} to the two articles, for what little good it will do. The way Wikipedia functions is that articles are added to when a volunteer interested in the subject, and with the ability and motivation to expand, happens by. The expand tags do add the articles to Category:Articles to be expanded, but I don't know that anyone really acts based on that category. The project, Wikipedia:Pages needing attention apparently at one time took an active role in acting on that category but it is defunct.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 01:43, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

BTW, how does Wikipedia decide that a project is defunct? Is all it takes just one editor adding the {{history}} tag, as happened at Pages needing attention here? — Sebastian 02:02, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Yeah.... that pretty much how it works, although if a tag does get slapped on and is not removed in over six months its a pretty good bet that the page/process is no longer used. {{historical}}'s are sometimes doled out at MfD's though and those tags could be considered to have more weight. Icewedge (talk) 02:07, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Fishery templates

Moved to Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Fisheries and Fishing

The fishery articles use a number of fishery templates to form a somewhat hierarchical network across the articles. Since these have been installed, the traffic for fishery articles has much increased, particularly for the lower level articles. However, every now and then, someone comes along, and wants, usually without discussion, to introduce their own idea of layout, or simply removes templates or pushes them out of the way. Sometimes editors come along who seem malicious. Is there some forum where I can get these issues properly considered by capable editors without axes to grind? --Geronimo20 (talk) 02:15, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I noticed you are a member of Wikipedia:WikiProject Fisheries and Fishing - why not bring it up there? WikiProjects are ideal when you need to discuss such things with the big picture in view. — Sebastian 02:40, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I see, you've already done that, and it seems you feel that the discussion is getting nowhere. My impression is that this is because there seem to be only two editors involved. Are there no more editors in this project that could help you find a compromise? If not, you could maybe ask for a third opinion or any of the other paths listed at WP:Dispute Resolution. — Sebastian 02:52, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes, this is the problem. The discussion you mentioned was with an editor who is not a member of the project. The trouble is that there is currently only one other (occasional) active member. Right now, there is an insufficient support base for fisheries, which means the project templates can be vulnerable to an editor bent on his/her way, but with no commitment to what is best for the project. Which is precisely what is happening with another editor right now. --Geronimo20 (talk) 03:04, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Question

Hi, I'm forwarding a question I posted here, cheers. Ryan4314 (talk) 05:50, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

• Category:Wikipedia administrators who will provide copies of deleted articles should answer your question. Most administrators not in that category will also consider your request unless the material is a direct copyright violation or attack page. - 87.211.75.45 (talk) 06:09, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

List of documentary films

I am going to try and get this List of documentary films to featured list status. When I start with the table I am not going to complete it in a day or probably a week or 2, Do you think it is a good idea to copy the page like I have here so it would not look really messy for a while or just edit it on it current page.--intraining ^{Jack In} 08:30, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

If you are worried about the way it looks, you could do it one letter at time. Juzhong (talk) 10:31, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

• There is no problem with working on a temporary copy in your userspace. Just make sure that if you copy it back, you consider intervening edits and if someone edited it on your userpage that you include their name in the edit history. Mgm|^(talk) 10:41, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Yep sure thing, By adding their user names to the edit history do you mean add them to the edit summary?. thanks--intraining ^{Jack In} 10:47, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

• Either merge the histories, or link them in the edit summary along with time and date and summary of what they did. - Mgm|^(talk) 11:25, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

O.K Thanks for your help.--intraining ^{Jack In} 11:30, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Date de-linking

After the dates on an article have been de-linked, is it still possible to switch all of the date formats (1 July 2008 ← → July 1, 2008) on an article at once, or does this have to be done manually? (Reason I ask is that Amelia Earhart should have American-style dates.) AlexiusHoratius 12:04, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

If dates are delinked, then they should be manually edited for consistency using the proper local style. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 12:31, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

So it is not possible to use that automated de-linking script to reverse the format once the dates have been de-linked? AlexiusHoratius 12:51, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

User:Lightmouse has a script that can assist in this task. Rjwilmsi 17:40, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Shaun Costello

I am Shaun Costello, and a few days ago I was told that my listing page, which has been on Wikipedia for years in various forms, had disappeared. It turns out that someone with the user name "Fram", who lives in Belgium, took it upon himself to delete my page, apparently for no reason whatsoever. At least no reason that I could determine from the information available. How can something like this happen? Are the lunatics running the asylum? Is there no system in place to prevent frivolous actions taken by users who, on a whim, can add or delete what they wish? Is there anyone responsible at Wikipedia who can correct this action? It seems preposterous that people, hiding behind silly pseudonyms, can take actions without fear of reprisal. Perhaps people like your Mr "Fram" should be forced to use their real names during their Wikipedia related activities, so that they can be held accountable. Thank you, Shaun Costello/My real name —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shaun Costello (talk • contribs) 12:13, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

The page has been speedy deleted as an Attack page or negative unsourced biography of a living person (see here). Please note that this is for the protection of the subject of that article, and not just because the admin fancies it. Please read WP:BLP for our policy on biographies. You can ask about this at User talk:Fram if you want, and you can request a copy of the deleted article too. The article can be recreated with proper references. Cheers. Chamal ^talk 12:22, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Head Title

If I started one article named "Abc def", where I made an error and want to change the "d" to a big letter, how do I edit the head title? --Nicoliani (talk) 12:33, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

• You can rename an article by moving it. If your account is old enough and you made at least 10 edits you should have a move tab available, if not, you can ask a more experienced wikipedian to do it. - Mgm|^(talk) 12:38, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Templated category

How can you find out which template has a specific category in it again? -- Mentisock 13:35, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean which categories are associated with a template, such that adding a template to a page places it in a certain category? TN‑X-Man 17:04, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I mean categories that are implemented in templates. Category:Wikipedian drummers for example: if it doesn't tell you the template that categorizes the user is there any way of tracing the template? -- Mentisock 17:44, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I would assume that when a user adds {{user drums}} to their user page, they are automatically added to the category. Same thing happens with most user boxes. – ukexpat (talk) 17:52, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

In fact, in the code for {{user drums}} you will see this:

<includeonly>{{{category|[[Category:Wikipedian drummers|{{PAGENAME}}]]}}}</includeonly><noinclude>[[Category:Musical instrument user templates]]</noinclude>

which is the category code. – ukexpat (talk) 17:54, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

(edit conflict x a bunch)Exactly. You can see which categories are added by templates by viewing the code for the template. See [[1]]. TN‑X-Man 17:58, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

No... what I mean is, how can you trace Category:Wikipedian drummers to {{user drums}} (if you didn't know of the template)? This is like a conventional case of WhatLinksHere but since categorizing a page is neither a link nor a transclusion etc. I don't think it's easy to trace a template. (This is like saying, do you know if there are any more templates with <includeonly>[[Category:Wikipedian drummers]]</includeonly> also adding to the category page?) -- Mentisock 20:28, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I believe you can use "what links here". Just change the namespace from "all" to "template". It appears there are six or seven templates that include that category. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 20:32, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

That's only because they actually link to the category though. There are many templates which simply categorize. -- Mentisock 09:29, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Well in that particular case if you go to Category:Wikipedian drummers, the user box is there at the top of the cat page, which indicates that that is the relevant template. – ukexpat (talk) 21:53, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

That's exactly what I'm talking about - there doesn't seem to be an easy way to trace unknown templates even if they exist. -- Mentisock 09:29, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

User Pages and Deletion of Comments

Just out of interest does a user own their user-talk page in the sense that they can choose to delete any and all comments left on it by other users- be it vandalism, warnings or just general feedback? How much control does a user have over their talk page- is it even theirs or is it part of the project and required to be kept for records sake? Gavin (talk) 14:33, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

See WP:UP#OWN and the subsections under it. You can remove warnings and messages on your talk page, but you do not own it. In fact, the removal of a warning is taken as evidence that the warning has been read by the user. For the records, it will always be on the page history so no harm done. Cheers. Chamal ^talk 14:39, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

(edit conflict)

It is pretty well accepted that by deleting comments, you are acknowledging that you have read them. Doing so while engaged in an ongoing discussion can be seen as uncivil. Records are maintained through the page history; my recommendation is to move closed dialogs to an archive page, I archive by year. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 14:41, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I ask because I know a user who is removing every comment on his page regardless of whether it is abuse, friendly or anything in between. He's doing it as a response to some bad experiences he's had, he seems abit down- I told him to snap out of it but he took it as an attack...anyway is it contravening policy to just delete everything on a talk page... Gavin (talk) 14:48, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

(ec) On the other hand, persistently commenting on the talk page of a user who clearly doesn't want to receive your messages can also be seen as incivil or harrassment. And on the third hand, editors are expected to be willing and able to engage in a reasonable amount of civil discussion about their edits should a dispute arise. It's all about context.

Of course, this sort of question – while usually presented here or at AN(/I) in a general sort of way – usually contemplates a specific situation with a specific editor. You'd probably get a better answer with an open description of the situation. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 15:02, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I need to see a comparison of Mobile Phones Operating Systems

I need to see a comparison of Mobile Phones Operating Systems and I couldn't find a page about that on wikipedia. Is there something that I can do to get that information? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ahmedhesham3 (talk • contribs) 15:20, 9 December 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.  – ukexpat (talk) 15:37, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

There is Category:Mobile phone operating systems, though it doesn't offer a direct comparison.--A bit iffy (talk) 16:54, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Rollback Userbox

How do I get the userbox that says "This user has English rollback rights" or something like that? HairyPerry 15:41, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Here you go

This user has rollback rights on the English Wikipedia. (verify)

.--intraining ^{Jack In} 15:43, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Thank you very much. HairyPerry 15:48, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Don't mention it!!--intraining ^{Jack In} 15:50, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

You can also check out more userboxes at WP:USERBOX#Gallery. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 15:51, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Oh wait, there is one other question I have. How do I get the box that goes in the corner of your userpage that when you click on it, it says this User has rollback rights in English Wikipedia, like ThinkBlue has on hers. HairyPerry 15:59, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

{{rollbacker}}. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 16:01, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

image display

Resolved

 – User can see images. TN‑X-Man 16:50, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Logo on page suddenly does not appear.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Wtfr (talk • contribs)

I'm not sure what you're asking. Which logo does not appear on which page? TN‑X-Man 16:23, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

On Weatherford International logo suddenly no longer appears http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weatherford_International —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wtfr (talk • contribs) 16:25, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

(e/c)My guess is that it's Weatherford International, but the logo displays for me. – ukexpat (talk) 16:28, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I see the logo as well. It may be an issue with your browser and/or browser settings. TN‑X-Man 16:29, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Agree with comments above, if you mean the image in the infobox on the top right of the page. Perhaps you may try clearing your cache? --PeaceNT (talk) 16:31, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Well I cleared the cache/cokkies and it still does not display. Previously it was visible now its not. Do you know what the browser setting should be? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wtfr (talk • contribs) 16:35, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Did you try a purge as well? – ukexpat (talk) 16:38, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes Thanks must of been the browser settings. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wtfr (talk • contribs) 16:49, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

HOUSE OF PAIN disambiguation

The Wikepedia info on HOUSE OF PAIN is focused on a former rock band that has been out of business for years.

All current rights to the term HOUSE OF PAIN are owned by Ironwear International, Inc., dba HOUSE OF PAIN. Since May of 1996; HOUSE OF PAIN has been a sportswear company targeting weightlifters and MMA fighters. The company HOUSE OF PAIN is based in Texas, with worldwide distribution, as seen at www.houseofpain.com .

The term 'HOUSE OF PAIN' is trademarked extensively (in USA and European Countries) by Ironwear International, Inc. The only currently valid Trademarkes for the term HOUSE OF PAIN (some of which were issued in 2000, 2001, and 2008) are wholly owned by this sportswear company (Ironwear International, Inc.).

This HOUSE OF PAIN information is far more current than that on a disbanded musical group, and as such - it should be listed under 'House Of Pain' (at least in the disambiguation section). We are not trying to market or sell via Wikepedia, but it is an infringment of our TM to not even list the company who owns the legal rights (TM & C) to the phrase HOUSE OF PAIN. How can we correct this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by RickBrewer (talk • contribs) 16:51, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

In order for your company to be listed on the disambiguation page, there must be an article on the company first. Users are usually encouraged not to start articles where they may have a conflict of interest, but you can certainly suggest the article be created, either by working with an established editor or working on the article in a sandbox and asking others to review it. Before getting started, you may want to review this guide on companies and this guide on sourcing. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 16:58, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

And also Your first article and Spam. – ukexpat (talk) 17:05, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

You should also read up on trademark law. A trademark for a line of clothing gives you no rights over somebody else's historic use of the same word(s) in a different context; ask Apple Inc. or the manufacturers of Life (cereal). --Orange Mike | Talk 15:45, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Block

Why is the page Virgin Killer blocked for UK users? --Teacake Martyr (talk) 17:40, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

See Internet Watch Foundation and Wikipedia. -- Mentisock 17:41, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Inserting Images and Catagorizing in Commons

I am having trouble inserting an image into an article(even after reading the help desk archives). I thought the problem had to do with the fact that when I uploaded the picture I accidentally forgot to categorize it. Question #1- Does an image have to be in a category before it can be inserted in an article? I went back and re-uploaded the image, this time putting it in the appropriate categories, and selected it to replace the original photo that I uploaded. But... what I found is that the image as it exists is the Gallery is still listed as "Usage-Media needing categories as of 8 Deccember..." even though under "File History" the "Current" image does list the categories under "Comments."

The image I am trying to use is: Image:Hongcun. willis.jpg. Can I delete the old un-categorized image since it is only a double of the original and can only cause confusion? If the image does not have to be categorized then what else could be the cause for the image not appearing in the article? I have simply copied the format that I have seen works for other articles where there are images, that is:

         |image_name       =
         |image_size       =

where I wanted the photo to appear. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks Leforain —Preceding unsigned comment added by Leforain (talk • contribs) 18:09, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

You misspelled the name of the 'image' parameter. It is 'image' not 'image_name'. I fixed it in Willis Barnstone. —teb728 t c 18:36, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps I should add that the documentation of the parameters is at Template:Infobox person. —teb728 t c 18:45, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

The image page (on Commons) does not appear to show that the uploader is indeed the copyright owner, so there may be a problem there. – ukexpat (talk) 18:42, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks TEB!!! I appreciate your putting up the image for me. Can you tell me if an image needs to be categorized before putting in article? Thanks again ```` Leforain —Preceding unsigned comment added by Leforain (talk • contribs) 19:54, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

No, it doesn't need that. —teb728 t c 20:06, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

The problem you ran into is a lack of consistency among templates. Don't assume that the parameter for one template will work in another. Read the documentation. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 21:37, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

IP Blocking indefinity for proxies

Does IP will be blocking indefinity in this wikipedia in case of proxy??

Japanese version of Wikipedia has block a batch of IPs for proxies and has a period to make it regular??

Why can you blocking IPs for indefinity? 219.68.144.123 (talk) 19:12, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

If I understand your question, you would like to know why Wikipedia blocks open proxies? If that's the case, you may want to check out WP:Open proxies. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 19:36, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I think they're asking "are open proxy IPs blocked indefinitely?" in which case the answer is almost never. Xenon54 (Frohe Feiertage!) 19:42, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

私は日本語を話します。日本語に質問を書きなさい下さい。ベリット ^話せます 01:07, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Functions to manipulate strings in templates

Hello, I wish to know whether there is any function to manipulate strings of text (e.g. to extract a substring from another parametric string). Actually, I have found this, but it is stated that this extension is not active in Wiki projects. Does anyone know about alternative ways to manipulate strings valid in WP? Thank you. --Ysogo (talk) 22:52, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Presumably you have read Help:ParserFunctions and examined the installed extensions in Special:Version. You might get a useful answer sooner if you describe the goal, not just the step. If you tell us what you are really trying to accomplish, maybe someone can suggest an alternative approach that will work. --Teratornis (talk) 02:07, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

wiki home pages

Greetings,

I truly enjoy reading wikipedia's daily homepage. Often I would like to get back to a wiki homepage days later to refresh what i read. Is it possible to read previous day's wiki-stories of the day?

Thank you 23:45, 9 December 2008 (UTC)~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.146.173.25 (talk)

While you can't easily recover a previous Main Page (because it's made up of templates), each Main Page feature has its own archive.

• For On This Day, there's an archive at WP:OTD.
• For In The News, you can look at the template history.
• Previous Did you know? entries can be found at WP:DYKA.
• Previous Featured Articles are found at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 2008.
• Likewise with Picture of The Day: Wikipedia:Picture of the day/December 2008.

I hope this helps! Xenon54 (Frohe Feiertage!) 00:58, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Actually, you can see Wikipedia:Main Page/Yesterday. Cheers, –Juliancolton ^{Tropical Cyclone} 02:20, 10 December 2008 (UTC)