Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 January 26

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January 26

Same template

I recently discovered two same templates. {{Taiwan Provincial Highways}} and {{Taiwanese provincial highways}}. What do I do? Merge them? or delete one of them??? _{(Ps. I'm not very good at manipulating template codes)} impactF=_{check this} 00:43, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

I think you could delete one.. you can't merge two of the same thing. Layout is different, that is all.--Staka (T) 02:08, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

List one of them at WP:TFD. – ukexpat (talk) 02:36, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

• Make sure that there's no project-related reason to have both templates and also make sure that there is a consensus before you migrate all articles to the use of either one or the other. - Mgm|^(talk) 08:44, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Style Guidelines?

Does Wikipedia have any style guidelines for the creation of a brand new page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.62.13.246 (talk) 01:51, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Oh yes it sure does. Take a look at WP:YFA and WP:MOS. – ukexpat (talk) 01:52, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

You must also create an account first. Of course, you may have one but have simply forgotten to log in. Creating an account has many benefits, but if you don't want to, you can request an article's creation at WP:AFC. —La Pianista ^(T•C) 02:40, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

And keep WP:LAYOUT handy. There are also many subject-specific guidelines, so what do you want to write about? Your choice of subject to write about has the largest influence over the fate of your article. If you write about the "wrong" subject, you will next be asking "Why was my article deleted?" --Teratornis (talk) 20:41, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Image linked to page?

Resolved

Is it possible to link an image, that's not in an article but in a template or an userpage, to a specific page on Wikipedia? --Staka (T) 02:06, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Not sure what you mean - please explain. – ukexpat (talk) 02:38, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Images found in the template/userspace should be linkable in the mainspace. Please clarify. —La Pianista ^(T•C) 02:42, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

I'll hazard a guess that you're trying to get your fancy image there to link to your userpage. Please remove the image at once. It's a security risk, plus the image can be vandalised. Imagine you sign 5000 posts, then a vandal uploads, say, a not-safe-for-work image. Not only is Wikipedia now peppered with this NSFW image (probably leading to mass sackings of Wikipedians who edit at work), but while the 5000 instances of the image are being replaced we could see another server lock-up like the one Scientizzle famously caused. If you can remember, he deleted the sandbox. See WP:SIG#Images. Xenon54 (talk) 02:49, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Alright, I've removed it from my signature. It'll be text linked to userpage from now on. I just saw some people using it and thought it was okay.. never knew there was such guideline over this. --Staka (T) 03:52, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Should I go to every talk page I used this signature? I'm not sure how many but probably less than 10.. And also, even though "famously caused", I never knew such problem happening before. --Staka (T) 03:56, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

You should, just to be safe. Don't remove the time and date you originally signed, though. I said "famously" because I thought most would probably remember it (it happened this time last year) - nothing but error pages for a good few hours. Xenon54 (talk) 12:31, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

"Famous" on Wikipedia is kind of a Blind men and an elephant situation. Wikipedia is so huge that it's quite possible for random user X to be very familiar with some things while completely oblivious to others. For example, I thought the Editor's index to Wikipedia was pretty famous, but when I posted a note to that effect, several users with 10,000+ contributions mentioned they had not yet heard of it. I can't recall this "famous" incident you mention here. It would be interesting to make a list of the things that every Wikipedia user knows. I bet it would be a short list. (I say it would be interesting because if I could make that list, I would practically be omniscient, and being omniscient would be cool, I think. Although I cannot be sure because it's hard to know how many horrifying truths I have no inkling of now.) --Teratornis (talk) 20:38, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Alright, I'll go change the images to text without simply using tides. --Staka (T) 20:47, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Oh, someone has already changed all of my signatures.. well thanks for informing me about this information. --Staka (T) 20:49, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

User subpage name showing on Category page

Resolved

 – ukexpat (talk) 04:05, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

While I'm working on a new page that belongs in the category German architects, my user page is showing up in the category list as User:Laura schnak/Mathes Roriczer. I understand why this is happening but is it a faux pas and should I somehow comment out the line until I actually merge the article? Thanks. Laura schnak (talk) 03:15, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Yes you should comment out (or nowiki) the categories (and images, if there are any) until you move the article into mainspace. You can also add a colon before the category name, thus—[[:Category:German architects]]—as another way of keeping the page from being added to the category. Deor (talk) 03:32, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Perfect, thanks. Laura schnak (talk) 03:48, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Are financial donations the only way to express gratitude for articles?

I often wish I could click something on a wikipage just to show the contributing authors that I found their work helpful.

I already donate financially to wikipedia but that's very different from the desire to express a sincere thank you for your work.

Could you help me find the best way to circulate this idea? I'd like to see if there is widespread support to help put something in place to facilitate readers being able to quickly and easily express thanks for helpful articles.

Thanks, LChrisB (talk) 04:28, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

You can award barnstars to particular editors or just leave a note on talk pages. – ukexpat (talk) 05:02, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Unfortunately, since most pages have many authors (especially true with the higher-quality articles, which often use peer review processes to get feedback), barnstars aren't terribly practical. Chris, we do appreciate your thanks, but there's not much of a way to express it besides a small donation to the Wikimedia Foundation. GlassCobra 07:33, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

• On the history page of an article there's usually a link on the top left that will give you a sorted list of contributors with the most-contributing user at the top. You can given those a barnstar and encourage them to award other stars to the people that helped them best.. - 131.211.210.199 (talk) 08:26, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

You can also leave a general thank-you on an article's talk page, or on the talk page of the overseeing WikiProject. Thank you for donating financially, by the way. --Teratornis (talk) 08:54, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Airport code history

Why is Columbia, SC's airport code CAE? Some say it because it is in Cayce-West Columbia, SC. But the airport itself cannot verify this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 161.215.18.51 (talk) 04:44, 26 January 2009 (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) 05:03, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

See Columbia Metropolitan Airport, International Air Transport Association airport code, and Airport ABCs: An Explanation of Airport Identifier Codes. I don't see the exact answer, but the last reference gives the rules for choosing codes. The airport's history page does not say anything about the airport's code. If nobody at the Reference desk knows the answer, you might have some luck by asking a reference librarian at your local library, or checking with your local historical society. When the IATA first assigned the code, a local newspaper may have run a story about it. That story is unlikely to be online, because the code probably predates the Internet by several decades. --Teratornis (talk) 10:15, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

fix broken link?

I found a broken link here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_group under "External links", to Focus Group Principles American Marketing Association Could someone repair that?Artarch (talk) 00:06, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

Clean up references

Could someone who's better with citing medical references than I am (that includes everyone :-) ) please fix the references in the Side stitch article? Thanks, Dismas|^(talk) 05:55, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

edit war

Resolved

Triple J Hottest 100, 2008 is beyond my current abilities. Ched (talk) 06:25, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

I don't see any content dispute there, sneaky vandalism perhaps? Go to WP:RFPP if you want it protected. –Capricorn42 (talk) 06:36, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

doesn't matter to me, I just noticed a lot of IP edit changing and BS at the page, half dozen edits per min., and not all good faith edits. I do appreciate the link to that page protection thing though ... bookmarking now. Thanks for the info ;) ... Ched (talk) 06:44, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

LOL ... guess I'm too slow ... I see it's already listed there. Ched (talk) 06:46, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

adding a new language

Resolved

My cities Wikipedia page contains many languages but Spanish is not one of them. I would like to translate some of the English page into Spanish, and possibly add my own information. How can I go about doing this?

Many thanks, —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dscharb (talk • contribs) 07:25, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

To do that you will have to go to the Spanish Wikipedia. Create the page there and then add an interwiki link to the English article. –Capricorn42 (talk) 07:28, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Translation has information on translation to English. I don't know Spanish but es:Categoría:Wikipedia:Traducciones solicitadas may be of use for editors translating to Spanish. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:05, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

thanks for your help! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dscharb (talk • contribs) 14:22, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

resolving disputes

Resolved

 – ukexpat (talk) 15:30, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

So I looked up an article on "The Apostolic Faith Church," and found a big "!" telling me that the neutrality or factuality of the article was being disputed; I edited the article to meet the objections and clear up the issue. How can I petition to have the "!" removed? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.157.205.73 (talk) 08:59, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Presumably you refer to the {{Totally-disputed}} template at the top of the Apostolic Faith Mission article. Anyone can put such a template on any article, and anyone else can remove it, but this might not necessarily satisfy the person who put the template on the page.

• The bold method is to just remove it when you think you have fixed the problem.
• The civil method is to determine who put the template on the page, and tell them to inspect your changes. If they think you have fixed the problem, they will remove the template. It's nice to do things this way because otherwise you could get into an edit war if the other user does not agree that you have fixed the problems.

Also see Talk:Apostolic Faith Mission where some users have been discussing the page. Note that articles on Religion can be tricky on Wikipedia, because they are usually edited by adherents of the various religions, which leads to conflicts of interest. Wikipedia's neutral point of view is completely at odds with faith, so religious people must be careful when editing articles about their religions, particularly when discussing unverifiable faith claims. The temporal history of an organized religion, on the other hand, is much like the temporal history of any secular organization, in terms of how one would reliably source factual claims about it. --Teratornis (talk) 09:30, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

thanks alot !! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dscharb (talk • contribs) 14:17, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

You're welcome, and thanks for responding to let us know the answer helped (many supplicants on the Help desk never reply, so we never know if we helped them). If I may add some unsolicited advice: you seem to be making some edits while logged in to Wikipedia, and some edits while not logged in. Before you edit on Wikipedia, check in the upper right corner to see if you are logged in. You should see your username up there, rather than an I.P. address. If you make all your edits while logged in, it will be easier for you to keep track of your contributions. For example, six months from now you might want to find an article you remember editing, but you cannot remember the name. If you edited it while logged in, it will be on your contributions page. --Teratornis (talk) 20:32, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

IP address impersonation

Resolved

From these diffs it appears that one or two users are impersonating a different IP address (and in the latter case, acting uncivilly). Where exactly should this be reported? -- 74.137.108.115 (talk) 09:02, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

• It's a blockable offense, but since they didn't do much with it yet, I recommend warning them first. - Mgm|^(talk) 09:50, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

(e/c) I added unsigned template at RD/C and asked user not to fake signature on their talk page. –Capricorn42 (talk) 09:51, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

That was quick! Thanks! -- 74.137.108.115 (talk) 09:54, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Newpages offset

Is it not possible anymore to offset the number of new pages without being specific (i.e., it's not possible anymore to go to the back of the log and offset it by the last 500 pages, instead a date must be specified)? -- Mentisock 10:52, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you saying you cannot change the number of new pages shown in the log (for example, 20, 50, etc.)? TN‑X-Man 16:23, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

I mean you need a specific date to change like it http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:NewPages&offset=20081231115718&limit=500&hidepatrolled=1. -- Mentisock 09:36, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Can't you just click the patrolling pages from the back of the unpatrolled backlog button at the top of Special:NewPages to achieve what you want?--Commander Keane (talk) 05:17, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

I can but I also want to see the last 500, since that link only lists 50. -- Mentifisto 15:07, 30 January 2009 (UTC)

Actually I think the new pages link on your userpage replied my question. :-) -- Mentifisto 23:10, 30 January 2009 (UTC)

Location map in infobox

Resolved

Is there any way to add a location map to the military conflict infobox? I've been trying to add it, but it keeps going off center, either to the left or right side of the space provided in the infobox for the image. Chamal ^talk 12:53, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Infobox Military Conflict does not support a map. Add {{[[Template:|]]}} as separate template. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 14:27, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Or, if the template talk page is active ask there if the ibox can be edited to allow use of a location map. If that page does not seem very active (last edit appears to be October 2008), raise the issue on the talk page of the Military History Project. – ukexpat (talk) 15:35, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Damn... OK guys, thanks. Chamal ^talk 00:44, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

M-Tech(Master of Technology) Construction Managment

indus institute of higher education karachi Pakistan is the first degree awarding institute have been succefully launched the M-Tech Programm in jan-2006 first badge of M-tech passed out DEc-2007. please enter to your record.

thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.186.96.166 (talk) 15:37, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

This help desk is for asking questions about using Wikipedia. Is there something with which we can help you? If you are interested in creating an article, you would first have to register an account, which has many other benefits. TN‑X-Man 16:20, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Starting over again

This is a bit complicated, and I apologize in advance for my carelessness. Hope I'm not telling you more than is necessary, but I thought you should get the full picture.

My first article (although I made a substantial contribution to Tannu Uriankhai, but that was through the edit function) was "Outer Mongolian Revolution of 1911." I apparently did that correctly. By the time I started on my next article, I had forgotten what I did to publish the first, and did this one differently (and incorrectly). I wrote the second article on my user page, used the "move" feature to give it a name ("Outer Mongolia in the Bogd Khaan Era, 1911-1919"), believing that the article was safe. Well, of course, I was wrong. Anyhow, that seemed to work well enough. So I wrote a third article (my last, you will be pleased to know). I went to my user page, deleted the text "Outer Mongolia in the Bogd Khaan, etc." through the "edit" feature, cut and paste the new one, and then again used the "move" feature to give it a name ("Outer Mongolian Revolution of 1921"). It was then I discovered that the "Bogd Khaan" article was gone, but not its name. Finally, in my effort to fix things and before I had thought things through, I did another "move" action to create an article "Outer Mongolia, 1911-1919." That just created a "redirect" action (or something like that).

I want to start again, and publish the two articles correctly. However, their names are now taken. I could create new titles but this will just clutter Wikipedia up. So, the question is: How can I (or you) delete the three titles: "Outer Mongolia in the Bogd Khaan era, 1911-1919," "Outer Mongolia, 1911-1919," and "Outer Mongolian Revolution of 1921"? The two texts are safe in my own hard drive. Thanks and apologies for this inconvenience. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mongolia62 (talk • contribs) 16:29, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Do not delete the existing articles, but instead add the additional information you have uncovered to the articles already in Wikipedia. You cannot own an article or topic, and it is against the spirit of this project to replace sound information just because you prefer your own presentation of the same or similar data. Always recall: if you don't want your writing to be edited mercilessly... do not submit it. --Orange Mike | Talk 16:50, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Arrangement of images beneath headings

How can one arrange a page such that a number of images are forced to render beneath their collective header, with this pattern repeated a number of times?

Thanks.

--Coosbane (talk) 17:39, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

It's hard to comment in the abstract. Is there any article in particular that you can point us to? – ukexpat (talk) 17:42, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Looking at contribs, perhaps Scottsville Photo Gallery? It's a page of photos having to do with Scottsville, NY. Xenon54 (talk) 17:46, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Are gallery pages even appropriate on Wikipedia? In any event, you could create a gallery under each heading using the {{Gallery}} template. – ukexpat (talk) 19:27, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

It should probably be merged into the main Scottsville article. Galleries like that belong on Commons. Xenon54 (talk) 20:07, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

While I still would like to know how to tame the image location beast, using the "gallery" template solved the immediate problem. Thanks. --Coosbane (talk) 15:38, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

<p align="justify">

Should editors ever use the above? Is there a guideline against their use? When I say use, I mean for paragraphs just on their own, not in tables or anything. - Jarry1250 ^{(t, c)} 17:45, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

I can't think of a reason to justify a particular paragraph and not others, and there's already a preferences option for people who want to justify everything. Did you have any particular case in mind? Algebraist 17:51, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Erm, yeah, I'll just find it for you... St John's College, Cambridge - lots of constructive edits by the same author, but also adding these in (seemingly randomly). - Jarry1250 ^{(t, c)} 19:22, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

I removed them. – ukexpat (talk) 19:37, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Non-free use rationale Questions

Can someone please check the rationale that I posted on the edit page of the logo/image used for abcdefg35/ITG. I need to know if this rationale is good enough and if there is anything else I need to do. Thanks Abcdefg35 (talk) 17:49, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

To start with, non-free images must be used in articles, or they will be deleted. Then the image description page needs a separate rationale for each use. Algebraist 17:55, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Creating a page name for an event with advertising in its name

There is a new event in American college basketball called the Collegeinsider.com Postseason Tournament. I cringe at creating a page with that name. I'm wondering what other editors thing of it. There are other examples like the "MasterCard National Invitation Tournament" being under National Invitation Tournament, but it doesn't really make sense to shorten this case to Postseason Tournament as that would be too generic. Relaxing (talk) 19:09, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

No way to avoid it; it's a marketing thing, like Miller Park. --Orange Mike | Talk 19:45, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps you could truncate the '.com' to just be 'Collegeinsider Postseason Tournament'?Reynolds329 (talk) 13:40, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Policy Page

Resolved

 – ukexpat (talk) 20:03, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Does anyone know where might be some policy or guideline pages which says that we shouldn't link policy pages to articles. Meaning that the article itself should not contain links to policy pages. Thank you Ched (talk) 19:23, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Mainspace pages can contain links to policy pages for different reasons, for example in cleanup templates, in hatnotes, and in articles about Wikipedia. Can you be more specific about which situation you have in mind? PrimeHunter (talk) 19:33, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

This one? If not, then there is a list of policies here, try searching there. –Capricorn42 (talk) 19:36, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

The person that mentioned it to me was an admin. I think she may have been referring to the first link. I had found the list of policies, but couldn't find one that seemed to fit. Thank you, I'll try to understand how it applies. Ched (talk) 19:46, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Creating a new article with a title which already exsists

I'd like to create an article about Tom Jenkinson, but there is a different Tom Jenkinson who already has an article under this title. Is there any way I could make an article under this tile and create a disambiguation? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Trish92 (talk • contribs) 19:54, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Make it Tom Jenkinson with an additional detail in parenthesis that describes him, like John Doe (politician) or John Doe (actor). Grsz¹¹ 19:56, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

(edit conflict) If the person is a guitarist, create it at Tom Jenkinson (guitarist); if they are a footballer, create it at Tom Jenkinson (footballer). Then add {{Otheruses}} (or one of its relatives) to the top of the other article, directing the user to the one with the parenthesized term. Dendodge Talk^Contribs 19:58, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

(e/c x2)The way to do it is to add a disambiguating term in parentheses in the title, eg Tom Jenkinson (artist) or whatever term is appropriate - see WP:D. If there are only two Tom Jenkinsons with articles, there is no need for a disambiguation page, a hatnote is sufficient, probably {{otherpeople4}}. – ukexpat (talk) 20:00, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Can you center a caption?

I have inserted images with captions a couple of times, and the captions automatically justify to the left margin. Is there a way to center the captions? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Voiceperson (talk • contribs) 20:30, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Personally, I don't think it's necessary to center except perhaps on a page-wide panorama. It is not specifically prohibited by WP:CAPTION so I guess it's OK - take a look at the {{Center}} template. – ukexpat (talk) 20:49, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Use <center>This caption is centered.</center> Gary King (talk) 21:16, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Redistrubuting information from Wikipedia?

Hi, I was wondering what the rules are (if, indeed, there are any) regarding taking information from a wikipedia article and republishing it elseware. The specific example that I'm interested in would be in using large sections of an article to make up help text for a computer program I've written. The program is a Hanjie puzzle game and I'd like to take sections from the wiki article to explain to the user what Hanjie puzzles are and how to solve them. Would that be allowed or would I be breaking copyright or a license or some kind? —Preceding unsigned comment added by The Farwall (talk • contribs) 21:22, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

See WP:REUSE. – ukexpat (talk) 21:24, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Height

How tall was Elvis? Sorry, I haven't been able to find it list. Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.47.88.86 (talk) 22:39, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

About 6', according to Google. Algebraist 22:43, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

If you have any other factual (i.e. not having to do with Wikipedia) questions, please ask them at the reference desk. Xenon54 (talk) 23:28, 26 January 2009 (UTC)