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Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 May 23

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May 23

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Non-existant References

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How do you handle articles whose references point to non-existant webpages or webpages that return a 404 error now? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Smarter1 (talk • contribs) 15:59, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:EIW#LinkRot for links to some tools and instructions. I don't see that there is one simple tidy answer. The first thing I would try is a {{Google}} search for new locations the references may have moved to, or for new references that document the same information. It will be nice, someday, when the whole world gets over its stupidity and all published information is under the GFDL. Then we can add everything we cite to Wikisource and not have to worry about linkrot ever again, or as long as the Wikimedia Foundation remains viable. --Teratornis (talk) 16:27, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
See WP:DEADREF. LinkChecker is a great tool that will check links, mark dead links and check for archived links. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 16:24, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Vandalism

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Why is it that some vandals get away with the vandalism they start, like the false birthday I found on Lee Eun-ju before I fixed it? This wiki needs something that will automatically detect vandalism, so the vandals are not warned so late, like they are nowadays.Kitty53 (talk) 00:20, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well, it's not like we can catch every vandal. We try our best to revert all vandalism. Even when one is found late, it would be reverted/removed. Also, it could be that a user adds vandalism one edit at a time, one inappropriate word, hidden vandalism, sneaky vandalism, etc. and it's hard to keep up with. But we do try our best. Also, there are many tools like TWINKLE that helps but no tool can find all vandals. Not even our vandal fighting bots can get all of them. Hope this helps. --RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 00:24, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
There are a lot of bots that do this (like User:Cluebot) but unlike humans, they are not 100% effective.--Sunny910910 (talk|Contributions|Guest) 00:45, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
There's really no way a bot can figure out that changing a birthday is vandalism. There are times where an incorrect birthdate is listed for person, and a correct one is added. So it's not as simple as reverting every change of a birthday. — The Hand That Feeds You:Bite 01:12, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
By the way, bots are not perfect. Our vandal fighting bots have actually made mistakes. --RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 01:22, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, the bots make tons of mistakes - and sneaky vandalism like fact-changing often doesn't get reverted 'cuz of WP:AGF. So then we have to wait until someone who, say, has the page on their watchlist to review and possibly revert it (which would take a while). Calvin 1998 (t-c) 03:36, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Agreed. I actually saved a few diffs just for proof that bots make mistakes. I'll be glad to show it if requested here. Anyway, I've noticed sneaky vandalism being on an article fpr over 6 months. So basically to the requesters questions, there is always vandalism left around wikipedia. That is why vandal fighters, which refers to pretty much all wikipedians, are here to help remove and revert vandalism. What you saw User:Kitty53, was just one of those sneaky edits/vandalism. --RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 03:42, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Kitty, the something that will automatically detect vandalism is all of us working together. The bots can find the swear words, us humans have to spot the rest. Put lots of articles on your watchlist and check every change. Check if the references support the changes. If there aren't references, find them and add them. If you find vandalism, check that user's contributions and fix everything else they've messed up, and give them a warning if it's recent. Then watch their contributions to see if they're still doing it. It's a team effort, and thanks so much for helping! Franamax (talk) 04:46, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What happened to the + button?

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I've been on WP on and off, and just realized the + button at the top of talk pages is missing. Is it my computer, or did they remove it? Voyaging(talk) 04:05, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It was replaced with a "new section" button. Calvin 1998 (t-c) 04:11, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It still works the same way. Click "new section" to create a new section on a talk page as normal. You can go to Special:Preferences and then go to gadgets, and then you click the box that says "Change the "new section" tab text to instead display the much narrower "+"." in the "User interface gadgets" section at the bottom to add the "+" back if you want.--RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 04:17, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
If your wondering how all this happened, it was mentioned at the village pump and then others considered to change it to "new section" and then have an opportunity to change it at Special:Preferences.--RyRy5 (talk ♠ copy-edit) 04:26, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, guys! Didn't even see the new button! Voyaging(talk) 11:38, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This illustrates how the brain sees what it expects to see, and tends to ignore anything which is out of place. It would be nice to have a preferences checkbox to enable something like "Notify me when someone dicks with modifies the user interface". I find it extremely annoying when I go to a familiar Web site and someone has redesigned a bunch of stuff without telling me, or for that matter without asking me if I wanted it to change. Imagine if the real world was like that - each day, you would head out on familiar roads only to find someone had rearranged all the familiar landmarks, road signs, and even the road layout. --Teratornis (talk) 16:35, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It is quite a pain in the ass, but, what are you going to to? When people make a change they want it to be noticed, and the only way to do that is by shoving it down people's throats. --Oni Ookami AlfadorTalk|@ 01:28, 24 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
How about what I suggested, to have a preferences checkbox: "Notify me when someone modifies the user interface". If you check that box, then each time someone changes the standard page layout or site features or whatever, you would get the usual "You have new messages" prompt on your next login, and your talk page would have a new message explaining what changed, or linking to a document that explains what changed, or at least a link to the discussion on the Village pump where a handful of people decided what was best for 48,347,811 users (based on their hunches, I suppose). --Teratornis (talk) 04:36, 24 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yesterday, news reports about the English Wikipedia.

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Yesterday, News reports about the English Wikipedia.

[1] [2]

Korea in the famous English Wikipedia.

English Wikipedia best!

--Stylescene (talk) 07:32, 23 May 2008 (UTC)Stylescene[reply]

Is there a question here? If those articles have some newsworthy content, you might write a dispatch for the WP:SIGNPOST, or see WP:EIW#News for a place to report it (preferably in English). --Teratornis (talk) 16:30, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Mark Cavendish, misplaced edit-buttons

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I'm baffled as to how to fix a problem on the Mark Cavendish article, in which the sub-section edit buttons have been misplaced by a template; is there a solution to this? --Pretty Green (talk) 07:48, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:BUNCH. --Teratornis (talk) 08:49, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

RSS feeds

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 – External feed...... Dendodge .. TalkHelp 11:51, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi There

Every morning when i get into work i enjoy looking at your "Today's featured picture"

Is there any chance that this section could have its own RSS feed please so that I can enjoy the pictures when im out of the office on Google reader

Hopefully you can accommodate this

Thanks

John —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.196.42.53 (talk) 09:54, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, the way it's set up makes that impossible I'm afraid...... Dendodge .. TalkHelp 11:51, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I haven't used Google Reader, but it looks like a standard Web-based aggregator that reads Atom and RSS feeds online or offline. You can find some Wikipedia-related feeds on the Editor's index; browse there, and do a Ctrl-F search for "RSS". For example, there are some RSS feeds under WP:EIW#Watch, but those all seem oriented toward people who edit on Wikipedia rather than the large majority who primarily just read. (This is somewhat understandable because the people who build Wikipedia tend to look first to their own needs, i.e. to the stuff we must have to build Wikipedia.) Strangely, there are no RSS-related entries under WP:EIW#Main. It does seem kind of obvious, now that you mention it, to put Wikipedia's most popular content that updates daily on a fixed schedule into an RSS feed. So I looked more carefully at the links under WP:EIW#Watch, and WP:RSS#Externally hosted RSS Feeds of Wikipedia pages lists this link:
Does that do what you need? --Teratornis (talk) 15:36, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
See Wikipedia:Syndication. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 15:52, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Err, I was wrong, ther is one at http://jeays.net/wikipedia/picture.xml...... Dendodge .. TalkHelp 18:48, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

thank you to everyone..this has really helped me...

thanks again —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.0.85.27 (talk) 09:30, 24 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How do I merge two articles?

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I wrote the article Ramsay Muir about a British Liberal Party politician. There is also another article about Muir under a slightly different name. I have incorporated all the information in the two articles into the one I wrote. Someone suggested the articles be merged but I do not know how to do it. Can someone advise me please, or just merge the article as suggested?

Thanks

Graham Lippiatt (talk) 11:00, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please see Help:Merging and moving pages. If you have additional questions after reading the instructions there, feel free to ask for clarification here.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:33, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Requesting references

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How do i make a request for more references in an article, because the Henry VIII article is good but almost totally devoid of references

You can add {{Refimprove}} to the article. The full code would be {{Refimprove|date=May 2008}}. {{Unreferenced}} and {{Refimprovesect}} may also be of interest.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:29, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Question

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Hello Wikipedia, I was wondering, if you can, how can we start our own articles? Thank You! —Preceding unsigned comment added by LiveorDieonJTK (talk • contribs) 13:02, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi there. For a guide on how to create articles, just see here. Good luck, Juliancolton Tropical Cyclone 13:03, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
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. Paragon12321 (talk) 19:37, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"Tasks" or "Things to do" page

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I came accross a stub-sized page a while ago on wikipedia that said "Here are some tasks you can do...." then listed about 15-20 links to pages with tasks required (x needs rewriting, y looks like an advert, z bot decision needs to be checked by a human etc.) . I have been looking for it again but i cant find it, and i dont remember if the title was "Tasks" or "things to do" or "to do list" or something else. Has it been deleted ? If so then can we bring it back, it was a great idea. It would make a good addition to the column on the left (Community Portal, Recent Changes, Things to Do etc.) Machete97 (talk) 13:16, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Have a look at Wikipedia:Community Portal/Opentask. You could add a link to it in your Monobook toolbar, like you've suggested, by use of a short snippet of Javascript. haz (talk) 13:20, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Perhaps template {{todo}}? --—— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 15:43, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Can you recall any of the pages that the to-do list linked to? Or even their general topic area? If you can think of something to search for, you can search various parts of Wikipedia with the links on {{Help desk searches}}. There are lots of to-do lists on Wikipedia. See WP:CLEANUP and WP:BACKLOG for a generous sample. Maybe what you saw is on one of those lists. Or maybe not. --Teratornis (talk) 16:11, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Haz got it. i just found it in my notes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_Portal/Opentask is the page. Somebody add the green "resolved" thing at the top please. Machete97 (talk) 22:29, 24 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ok. I'll do it.Machete97 (talk) 15:08, 25 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. Good Job.Machete97 (talk) 15:08, 25 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Add picture to page

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Hello I added an entry to Wikipedia for an organization that I am a member of last year. Today I edited the page by adding a link to the organizations webpage which went through. I also tried to add a image file of the organizations symbol but I get a message that I need some sort of access I do not have to add the image. Can you please tell me what I need to do to include the image on the page? Thank you very much. The item is: IABPFF

Eddie Hicks —Preceding unsigned comment added by EddieHicks (talk • contribs) 14:44, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Presuming the article is International Association of Black Professional Firefighters. What image are you trying to add? Is it on Wikipedia or a different site? What is the exact message you get when you try to add the image? --—— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 15:10, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You have only made four edits to Wikipedia, so under the recently-changed rules, you need to make six more before you're allowed to upload images. Algebraist 11:17, 24 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ghost text

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I'm come across some really bizarre text in the Waratah Football Club article. There is paragraphs and paragraphs of something that has nothing to do with the topic but when I go to delete it by clicking 'edit this page' it doesn't appear. Anyone have any idea what is going on? Cheers. Crickettragic (talk) 15:21, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The text had been added to one of the stub templates. Should be gone now. --Onorem♠Dil 15:26, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks mate. Crickettragic (talk) 15:27, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
See Help:Template for more information about templates on Wikipedia. Most likely, the user who added text incorrectly to the {{Australia-sport-stub}} template had not read our Help:Template instruction page. That might not bode well for the expedition to the steppes of Asia that the improper text describes. On Wikipedia, the consequences of most mistakes are minor, thanks to our revision control system that lets us revert any change to the previous correct revision. In contrast, the real world often allows only one chance to get things right. --Teratornis (talk) 16:05, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Steven A Lee

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Steven A Lee was born and raised in Rigby, Idaho. After graduating from Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho, he moved to Utah. He married Marilyn Williams in 1981, and had four daughters. For a brief time he resided in Southern California while working on the TV shows WereWolf and Something's Out There. In 2000, Steven and Marilyn separated and later divorced. In 2002 Steven married Merry Purser.

Steven's goal from the time he was in high school was to work in the entertainment business. After college, he toured with several Utah based theatrical companies from 1980-1985, at which time he started to work in the film business. After spending nearly twelve years working in the art department on Hollywood-produced films (he has worked with Fox, NBC, CBS, Tri-Star, Columbia, and more), Steven moved out into the independent feature film market. He has produced films that have been on HBO, DISNEY, and SHOWTIME. He continues to work in various producer roles in both television and the independent feature film market. He is currently the co-owner of Lonesome Highway Productions.

More information: IMDB data —Preceding unsigned comment added by Salupm (talk • contribs) 16:09, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This Help desk is for questions about using Wikipedia. Do you have a question for us? --Teratornis (talk) 16:38, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
We have a Stephen Lee (disambiguation) page already, but apparently no article about the Steven A. Lee you describe. See WP:BIO, WP:EIW#Bio, and {{HD/new}}. The first three letters of your username suggest you may be the same person. If so, also see WP:COI and WP:AUTO. --Teratornis (talk) 16:45, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Research Method

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why is access important in research method. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.138.15.180 (talk) 16:38, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Access to what? What type of research? And see {{dyoh}}. If you can formulate a question which admits an answer, try the Reference desk. This Help desk is for questions about using Wikipedia. Use the Reference desk for general knowledge questions. --Teratornis (talk) 16:47, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

article does not show up in search after 72 hours

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I was wondering why my article still does not show up in the search engine AFTER 72 HOURS??? —Preceding unsigned comment added by DundeeParkDist (talk • contribs) 16:59, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What is the title of your article? Is it possible it was deleted? Juliancolton Tropical Cyclone 17:09, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Your contributions do not show that you created an article under your current username. What is the exact name of the article? --—— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 17:10, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You created your article as a user page, not as an article in the mainspace. Would you like to request that it is moved to the article space? haz (talk) 17:11, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

yes I would, please. Thank you! How do I request to move the information to the article space? —Preceding unsigned comment added by DundeeParkDist (talk • contribs) 17:41, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm just copyediting the article; once I'm done, I'll move it for you. haz (talk) 17:53, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Looks like someone has been copying/pasting - article exists at Dundee township park district. – ukexpat (talk) 17:56, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Moved edited article to Dundee Township Park District and tagged Dundee township park district as a copyright violation. haz (talk) 18:40, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
And deleted. :) PeterSymonds (talk) 18:46, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

An article's "importance"

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I understand the quality ratings, but an article I like has been rated as "mid-importance" on the assessment scale. Is there a link to a description of the criteria for "importance" ratings, and who is it who decides? Grumpy otter (talk) 18:58, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Assessment is usually determined by the WikProject shown on the article talk page. Check out their portal for more information. If you have more questions, please provide the name of the article in question. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 19:19, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
When I click on "assessment," all I get is this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Version_1.0_Editorial_Team/Assessment, which states nothing about "importance," only quality of the article. Grumpy otter (talk) 19:45, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The ratings are relative to the projects. See, for example, the biography project's scale. Mr.Z-man 19:52, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Everything is relative. For instance, take the article on, oh I don't know, some big shopping precinct in townsville, country. That might be of high importance to wikiproject townsville, but low to wikiproject country. -mattbuck (Talk) 19:55, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you all--I get it now. And gee whillikers--that projest page is a MESS! I may have to go there next! Grumpy otter (talk) 20:12, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Two items on same line, should be on different lines

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I was looking at the Belmont Stakes article and noticed something that needed fixing.

When I found a source to confirm what I fixed, I indicated where that source starts and ends by using {{fact}}, which has somehow disabled the ability to move to the next line. I know because when I took that out it worked fine.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 20:25, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed. If that happens again, just add < /br> to the end of the line to make a line break. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 20:34, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 20:38, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Two items on same line, should be on different lines

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I was looking at the Belmont Stakes article and noticed something that needed fixing.

When I found a source to confirm what I fixed, I indicated where that source starts and ends by using {{fact}}, which has somehow disabled the ability to move to the next line. I know because when I took that out it worked fine.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 20:25, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

{{fact}} uses {{fix}}— it looks like fix has another problem that I will report. You can fix it with a break, but this should probably be a bullet list. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 20:33, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I probably should have thought of that. Thanks.

If someone will look at this topic and the one above it, it looks like we may have a tehcnical problem of some sort.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 20:39, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm trying to characterize the issue, but when I copy it to my sandbox, the darn thing works. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 22:14, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia on DVD

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 – Question answered with link to WP:1 given Calvin 1998 (t-c) 21:37, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm about to go on a sailing trip with a few friends in the Caribbean for 5 weeks. It's going to be a great time reflect on things, ponder about where to go next in my life, get ideas, etc. Unfortunately, we will not have internet access on the sailboat. We will have power and computers though. It would be amazingly useful if there was a way to purchase the current archive (or at least most of it) in a DVD format for use on my trip. I get lots of ideas and like to look things up, but I won't be able to without internet access. Wikipedia on a DVD is the next closest thing. I feel like this could be done on a single DVD and could sell for around $50. I'd buy it. Just an idea... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.56.12.229 (talk) 21:05, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, we don't have a DVD version yet. And as Wikipedia is "free" (as in copyright-free as well as you can access it for free), I don't think it would be ethical to "sell" a DVD. But I'm sure there was this CD of a few of the articles... Calvin 1998 (t-c) 21:08, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Indeed. See Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 21:15, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
If you will have computers, you can download some or all of Wikipedia in various formats for offline reading. See: Wikipedia:Wikipedia-CD/Download, TomeRaider, WP:DUMP. --Teratornis (talk) 22:58, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

New page tool

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I have seen before a tool that shows which pages editor has created - I think it is at tools.wikimedia.de somewhere; does anyone have a link to it? Thanks, EJF (talk) 21:10, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Try escaladix's tool. I think that's what you're after. haz (talk) 21:13, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Cheers, that's what I was looking for. Regards, EJF (talk) 21:19, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
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