Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 September 25

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September 25

Google Earth screenshots

Do screenshots from Google Earth comply with our intricate copyright policy? If not, any suggestions on how to get a free, custom satellite image of a specific location? I need that for an article I'm expanding. Thanks. Húsönd 00:35, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Per Google Earth#Copyright, no, they claim copyright over all those photos. NASA World Wind, however, gives PD images, so you could try that. --erachima talk 01:18, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Fair use image

I'm not sure how a lot of the image policies work. Image:27BCA Cote dIvoire 2004 110322471058610464.jpg is currently used at Ivorian Civil War under the policy. I would like to put it in technical (vehicle), as it is a much better image than ones already there but am not sure on how to proceed. Thanks, Grsz^talk 01:05, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

We have a free image already, even if it is a rather lousy one. So no, it would not be permitted. Sorry about that. --erachima talk 01:14, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

viewing one section of a page

I want to view http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Science#four_acceleration but I dont want to view the entire page. it takes to long to load. how can I just view that one section? Em3ryguy (talk) 01:47, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

I haven't heard of any built-in support for this. There are some possibilities to reduce download size but they are not so practical. If you know the section number (which changes over time) then you could use a section edit link like http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Science&action=edit&section=47 and click "Show preview". If the section has inline references then you can see them by adding <references/> at the bottom before previewing. The wiki source is often far shorter than the rendered page so if you don't know the section number then you could also consider a page edit link http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Science&action=edit, manually remove all other sections from the edit box, and click preview. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:24, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

thank you. that solved it. no need to click on 'show preview'. just go to preferences and check 'show preview on first edit'. Em3ryguy (talk) 03:08, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

As PrimeHunter pointed out, though, that section number is going to change, particularly when the page next gets archived. At which point you're going to have to work out what the new section number is by going back to the main page. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 04:21, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Vanishing and Reappearing

In an earlier section on this page, "WP:RTV", I read that:

"The 'right to vanish' is not a 'right to a fresh start' under a new identity. So no, you cannot use the right to vanish to do that, as using the right to vanish implies that you as a person are leaving Wikipedia forever, not just abandoning that specific account."

In another section also on this page, I read that:

"You do, however, have the right to vanish, which you can exercise by ................... If you do this, you are still free to register a new username if you wish to continue editing Wikipedia."

These two pieces of advice seem contradictory. May we have a clarification? Thank you. Wanderer57 (talk) 01:48, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Sure. The Right to Vanish, a right extended to users in good standing. Typically, as the linked page reveals, the account is renamed, the account's userpage, user subpages, and possibly talkpages deleted. References to the old username are also replaced with the new username. The right is to make it easier for people to leave, so it applies per person, not per account. Once a person has "vanished", they are not permitted to return. However, it also says that one can also simply stop editing or let their editing "trail off". We will assume that you have left. However, this lets you resume editing. The right to a "fresh start" is mentioned in WP:SOCK as a valid action, and more about it can be read about here.

Thank you. A followup question. If someone claims the "right to vanish" and then shortly after returns to edit under a new username, how does it work that "they are not permitted to return"? I.e., what stops them? What sanction is applied if they are "detected"? Wanderer57 (talk) 04:19, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

What happens if they come back? Well, whether we took any sort of administrative action would depend if they're being disruptive or not. Generally though, they lose the right to not have their old name mentioned per their failure to vanish. --erachima talk 15:19, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

speedy (i think) deletion request "category:inventor"

there was only one article categorized as "inventor" was Jimmy Hotz.

i reclassified it under "inventors." i trust this is correct.

since this is my first delving into editing categories, and the instructions proffered in Wikipedia:FAQ/Categorization are quite onerous, i'm submitting the deletion request here.--68.173.2.68 (talk) 02:56, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Although Jimmy Hotz was in the category until you fixed it, the actual category page was never created, so there's nothing that needs deleting. Algebraist 03:02, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

SEARCH FUNCTION

Lately when I use the search function a huge list drops down with the words I am typing AND IT IS VERY ANNOYING!!! HOW DO I TURN IT OFF???!!! GOOGLE HAS THE SAME PROBLEM ALTHOUGH YOU HAVE THE OPTION OF TURNING IT OFF!!! THANK YOU!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.207.146.20 (talk) 05:03, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

It can only be disabled if you are logged into an account, through preferences-->search-->disable Ajax suggestions. Someguy1221 (talk) 05:36, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

It can either useful or a pain, depending on what you're doing. When it appears, move the cursor away and click elsewhere on the screen to make it disappear so you can use the Go and Search boxes again. Karenjc 09:07, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Vandalism only accounts

I thought the policy on WP was to very quickly ban vandalism only accounts. This user User talk:135.196.93.35 seems to fit the bill as all his edits appear unconstructive yet he/she has not been banned yet. 79.75.236.180 (talk) 06:40, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

IP addresses aren't usually allowed the label "vandalism only account" since, naturally, they are not accounts. They may be dynamic and they may be shared. For this reason, unless it appears the same vandal has been using the IP for some time, an IP is typically only blocked for recent activity, in case its use switches to someone who edits in good faith. So if no one bothered to report the IP while it was vandalizing, it will not have been blocked. Someguy1221 (talk) 06:56, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

How to deal with a redirect reference that redirects to a broken link

I have no idea how to fix this, but the article is hereand the reference that is broken is the first one, ^ Genocide in Karachay by Hamit Botas. Thanks. --Mconfoy (talk) 06:42, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

While a reference does not actually require a working weblink (it does not even need to be available online), WP:DEADREF discusses potential resolutions to the issue in some detail. Someguy1221 (talk) 07:00, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

indian stock market

the reason behind drastic fall of stock market since january 2008 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.97.27.5 (talk) 07:04, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Have you tried the Humanities 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.--Clubjuggle ^T/C 07:47, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

I wouldn't be surprised if historians someday attribute the 2008 stock market contraction more or less to peak oil. The reason being that global economic expansion for the past century has largely been fueled by cheap petroleum, and the days of cheap petroleum seem to be drawing to a close now. Previously, when OPEC raised oil prices for political reasons, stock markets also contracted. This time there has been no sudden artificial increase in oil price, but a gradual tightening of the market, as supply has failed to keep up with growing demand. The world needs to figure out what it is going to do after oil. --Teratornis (talk) 09:15, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

So, only economies that don't use oil would not have experienced a stock market contraction at exactly that specific time, right? Wrong. DOR (HK) (talk) 09:33, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

I wasn't aware of any economies which have stock markets and do not use oil. Intercontinental transportation, for example, depends almost entirely on liquid fuels from petroleum to move ships and airplanes, so any economy which has outside trade in goods or materials depends on petroleum, even if that economy uses no petroleum domestically. An economy which uses no oil would have few material links with outside economies. (That could change, for example, if the rising price of oil stimulates a large-scale return of sailing ships.) --Teratornis (talk) 18:10, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

But we don't do your homework for you... – ukexpat (talk) 13:40, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

And if we did, think how perplexed your teacher would be. --Teratornis (talk) 18:10, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Active Users

There is a new category of users -Active users. What is the parametre for it? I mean what is the math?--Abhishek Jacob (talk) 13:29, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

As stated at Special:Statistics (which is currently locked, by the way, so don't believe those figures), it's all users who have made an edit or logged action in the last 30 days. Algebraist 13:43, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Article count

I think there's something wrong with the article counter. For most of yesterday, it was stuck on 2,563,487 articles in English. This morning it has only increased by 5. That can't be right, can it?SPNic (talk) 13:51, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Okay, I just noticed the post above this that said Special:Statistics is locked. That would explain it... sort of.SPNic (talk) 13:54, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

More details here. Algebraist 14:07, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Moving infobox/category listing

How do I move the infobox/category listing further down the page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Swestbrook71 (talk • contribs) 14:14, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Please be more specific. Are you referring to a particular article? GlassCobra 14:29, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Based on your contributions I will make a wild guess that you mean the table of contents at Southeast Missouri Hospital. You can remove the first heading "Southeast Missouri Hospital" since it's the article title and that is automatically displayed at top. The table of contents is by default placed right before the first section heading. See more at Help:Section. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:38, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

The article has much bigger problems than that -- it reads like a marketing brochure and I have tagged it for speedy deletion per WP:CSD#G11.

Thanks for the help... I will try to get a more Encyclopedic explanation. It's only my second week on the job here and my first time using Wikipedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Swestbrook71 (talk • contribs) 19:31, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

If you are an employee of the hospital you have a conflict of interest and should discuss changes to the article on its talk page before editing the article. – ukexpat (talk) 19:47, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Download to Pdf

I noticed that on wikieducator.org in their toolbox, they have a "Download as Pdf" option which downloads the current wiki page to a pdf.

I have a wiki and wanted to see if I could perhaps add a tool similar to this. What I want to accomplish is for the user of the wiki based site to be able to download a pdf of any page they please. I don't necessarily want to "print to pdf" all my current pages one by one and post the link up since the page will be edited constantly. A tool such as the one wikieducator has, either in the toolbox or elsewhere, to download to pdf would be extremely useful.

How would I do this?

14:50, 25 September 2008 (UTC)14:50, 25 September 2008 (UTC)~~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mandmdsred3 (talk • contribs)

Have you tried the Computing 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. Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 17:48, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Looking at http://wikieducator.org/Special:Version, they have an extension named "Collection (Version 1)" to "Collect articles, generate PDFs"; it is from "PediaPress GmbH"; see mw:Extension:Collection. I don't know why this is not installed on WikiPedia. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 13:36, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Problem adding merge template

Try as I might, I can't figure how to put merge templates on (protected) {{Infobox Single}} and {{Infobox Song}}. Please do so, so I can see how you managed it. I'll follow up on their talk pages, confirming that it was done at my request. Thank you. (I asked on WP:VPT but got no response). Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 16:12, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Since they are protected page you need to use the {{editprotect}} template on the talk page and describe what you want to add (in this case the merge template). Be specific in your request "Please add merge template XYZ to this this page...". The merge templates can be found at WP:MERGE. Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 16:44, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Doh! That never occurred to me; I assumed they'd have to go on the talk pages. Thank you. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 20:16, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

(Top)

On some of my contributions its Says (Top), can anyone tell me what the means? I have already gotten a guess from the ed 17 but I wanted to make for sure what it meant. Please help!

HairyPerry 16:25, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

It's the most recent edit to the page. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:28, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

I think we need a better word than "top" - top ≠ most recent. – ukexpat (talk) 16:38, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

My guess is that the term is used to refer to the "top" entry on the history tab of the article ... but I agree, a more intuitive term would be better, and may be an issue to bring up at WP:VP. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 16:44, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Any term is understandable when it links to a page or section that defines it. Without such a link, almost no word could be understandable to every user, since different people tend to assume different meanings or connotations from a single brief word. Single words in the user interface can imply more meaning than can fit into a single word. But any meaning, no matter how complex, can fit into a link. --Teratornis (talk) 17:59, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Ok, thanks I appreciate the information and yes a better term would be very appreciative so other new users would not have this same problem or question. Thanks and Happy Editing.

HairyPerry 17:59, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

The section which documents this word "top" has the somewhat ungainly name: Help:User contributions#Using a user contributions page. Here is the relevant excerpt:

• (top) signifies that the edit is the current revision. The page is as the user last saved it. This can be used to watch pages (if your last edit to the page does not display (top) the page has been changed). Sysops also have a rollback link here, see Help:Reverting.

The word "top" on the user contributions page should link directly to that entry (which would need to have an anchor to make it directly linkable). Or at a bare minimum, Special:Contributions should contain a link at the top to the corresponding help page, Help:User contributions. I don't see any help link at all on the page just now. --Teratornis (talk) 18:18, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

The best place for a help link is probably at the top, next to 'Search for contributions'. MediaWiki:Sp-contributions-search is the relevant page, if anyone (who is an admin) wants to edit it. Algebraist 18:29, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

how to upload Image

how to upload

Example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Example.jpg —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pop185 (talk • contribs) 17:45, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Take a look at WP:UPI. You will need to be autoconfirmed to upload to Wikipedia. If you own the images that you want to upload, please upload them to Commons so that they are available for use on all WP projects. Commons does not require autoconfirmation. – ukexpat (talk) 19:54, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Written Consent to show Wikipedia.org in a demo

Hi there,

I am doing a browser demo and require written consent from all companies, I'll be displaying in my demo. Where would I get a written consent from for showing Wikipedia.org in my demo?

Thank you.

Noureen —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.57.0.170 (talk) 18:02, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Basically you don't need consent. Please see WP:REUSE. – ukexpat (talk) 19:57, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Help with RfC, please and thank you?

Resolved

could someone have a look to see if i've done this right, please and thank you kindly: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Pop_music#RfC:_What_is_the_intended_subject_of_this_article.3F Sssoul (talk) 18:49, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

still anxious - it really looks impossibly weird, but i've read the instructions six times and can't fathom where i went wrong. any insight would be very very gratefully received Sssoul (talk) 20:51, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Uhm... it looks like you followed the directions at WP:RFC#Instructions properly, though I'm not sure if that's how the formatting is supposed to turn out or not. I agree it looks weird, but I suggest asking the people at WT:RFC. --erachima talk 20:55, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

thank you for taking an interest and for your suggestion - i've now asked at WT:RFC, but would really welcome any insights any gallant HelpDeskers might have - it's getting late here, and i'd like to have it sorted out before i fall asleep, so it doesn't sit there all night confusing people. thanks for any help anyone experienced with these things could offer Sssoul (talk) 21:15, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

update: okay, i figured it out: the instructions on the RfC page say the "codename" to use in the template for art/music/etc-related articles is "RFCart", but the right "codename" to use is "RFCmedia". i've fixed my RfC thingie (i hope!) and let the people at WT:RFC know the instructions need updating. Sssoul (talk) 21:29, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

external link

Hello. How may I add an external link to my father's wikipedia info page? Someone has listed my brother's as our "family" page, and it is only his page. I would like to add my page there as well. I did add it and it didn't show up. Thanks- Toni (Catalano) Williams —Preceding unsigned comment added by Zorrofiglia (talk • contribs) 19:25, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

The format is [http://www.etc.com title of web page]. See WP:EL. – ukexpat (talk) 20:02, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

If I accidentally clicked 'off' on a bot...

what would happen? Nothing? I'm scared...--Editor510 ^{drop us a line, mate} 20:12, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

You mean the emergency shutoff buttons? Those just bring you to the blocking form. Nothing, if you're not an admin... –xeno (talk) 20:16, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. Now I needn't worry about Cobi coming out of the computer screen and killing me if I accidentally do.

Bias tag

An unregistered user has placed the "Bias" tag on the Fun Lovin' Criminals article and hasn't left any message on the talk page as to why - or indeed any message on the talk page at all. Given that I disagree with the bias tag and the unregistered user has not provided their reasoning, may I go ahead and remove it or are there special rules governing its use? --Stenun (talk) 20:29, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

No, nothing prevents you from just removing it, though you should be cautious not to edit war over tagging. I'm not seeing any obvious bias myself, so I'd say go ahead and pull it, and maybe leave a note for the IP asking him to explain the tagging. --erachima talk 20:47, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Ta ... --Stenun (talk) 20:49, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Can you

Can you/how do you add articles? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Article21 (talk • contribs) 20:42, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

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. Algebraist 20:43, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

What does being blocked look like?

Are there templates etc so I can see? Just curious. Thanks. Saintrain (talk) 21:06, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

If you try to edit while blocked, you will see MediaWiki:Blockedtext, or if autoblocked, MediaWiki:Autoblockedtext. Algebraist 21:10, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Those are pretty straightforward. Thanks. Saintrain (talk) 22:58, 25 September 2008 (UTC)