Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 July 19

Help desk
< July 18	<< Jun | July | Aug >>	July 20 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Help Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current Help Desk pages.

July 19

Strange site

Resolved

 –  – 95j (talk) 14:19, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

I recently discovered that when I type wiki: (with the colon) in the search bar, it leads me to a strange site which I have never heard of. I know that there are certain prefixes for other Wikimedia wikis, but this does not appear to be one of them. In fact, there is a page there that states that it is completely the opposite of Wikipedia. Does anyone know what the purpose of that site is? 95j (talk) 00:51, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

That is WikiWikiWeb, the original wiki. Algebraist 00:53, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Prefixes are defined at meta:Interwiki map. Many of them are not to Wikimedia sites. This one was discussed in December at meta:Talk:Interwiki map#wiki:. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:22, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

What's acceptable for corporation article?

The article for our corporation has minimal info and is tagged "This United States corporation or company article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it." I'd like to improve that. Is it permitted to:

1. add listings of trademarks used by the company?
   
2. list brands operated by the company?
   
3. list/link web sites owned by the company in external links?
   

Note, there are many of each if we list them all. It could feel spammy to some.
(I could not find specific references to these points in online rules).
Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stockphotofinder (talk • contribs) 01:23, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Does WP:BUSFAQ help? – ukexpat (talk) 01:32, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Help with categories

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 02:57, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

I am sorting through the various school categories in an attempt to get schools into the most precise category required. As part of this, I created Category:Girls' schools in Pakistan, named just as instructed. It seems to work fine, but I'm curious as to why it's listed under "G" in Category:Girls' schools when every other category is sorted by the country name. They all "look" the same to me and I'd kind of like to know what I did wrong before I start making a bunch of others... Matt Deres (talk) 02:45, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

They are sorted with a pipe. For example, Category:Girls' schools in Australia is categorized by [[Category:Girls' schools|Australia]] which sorts by Australia. See Wikipedia:Categorization#Sort order. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 02:50, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Ah, I see now. Thank you. Matt Deres (talk) 02:53, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

(e/c [x2]) Fixed. See this edit for a working explanation. In short, categories display alphabetically by the first letter of the category name by default unless you pipe the category to a different format, in which case it displays by whatever first letter you have piped the name to. So by starting the piped category name with Pakistan, it sorts in the parent category by that country's name.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 02:54, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Update to Special page

Resolved

 – I updated quite a few outdated searches for ISBN in Australian Libraries. --Lantrix ::Talk::Contrib:: 07:55, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

I added a question for changing a special page over at MediaWiki_talk:Booksources-isbn#Find_This_Book Lantrix ::Talk::Contrib:: 03:22, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

You can edit Wikipedia:Book sources. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:14, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Creating a Page

There's a topic, a YouTube video specifically, that I believe has received significant coverage to deserve its own page. However, I'm uncertain if it's truly enough, and am not sure how a page for such a subject would be organized, formatted, etc. Would someone be willing to judge if the video deserves a page (I have links of its extensive coverage by third-party sources), and how to structure a page for it? The Clawed One (talk) 03:33, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Well if it has 3rd party sources then why not just create it? Formatting issues can be dealt with later..anyway, go ahead and post the links. :)--59.95.100.45 (talk) 04:16, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

What is the video? YouTube videos are rarely notable, but if there are third party, reliable sources involved, then this one might be an exception to that rule. If you link to the video, we can probably figure out a way to structure the page. Thanks, The Earwig (Talk | Contribs) 04:21, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

The video is "Buffy vs Edward", which combines footage of the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer with footage from the movie Twilight. The video has been covered by Change.org, AfterEllen.com, The L.A. Times blog, Newsarama and WIMN. These are just the five I'm confident are reliable sources, but a quick Google search of the video's title will turn up many more sites reporting on it, though I believe some are fansites, forums, etc. The Clawed One (talk) 04:26, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Um - actually all five of those links are blogs. Black Kite 09:22, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Yes, but still blogs for established third-party sources. It may be a LA Times blog, but it's still the LA Times reporting it. The Clawed One (talk) 14:55, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, forgot to link the video. Here's the video on YouTube, and the uploader has also made it available on their website along with an FAQ on the video. The Clawed One (talk) 04:29, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Non-notable content

Can someone please advise whether there is any guideline regarding the inclusion of a book's table of contents in the article about that book? Specifically, please see Talk:Sing_Praises_to_Jehovah#Track_listing. This is the edit in question.--Jeffro77 (talk) 07:36, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

I don't think it there is a specific place where that is covered. However, unless there are reliable sources that discuss the table of contents specifically, it shouldn't be included. Wikipedia cannot cover every single word within a book, as that would qualify as undue weight. TNXMan 12:36, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

The lists of TV series episodes

In an article of the name "List of *** episodes", is it allowed to put something such as "Will Mr. *** hide the secret and survive?"^{^1}, or "The roommate of messy Mr. DEF, Miss XYZ, is a neat freak."

^{^1}This is usually found at the end of the summary of one episode.--Mikespedia (talk) 08:24, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, it's not exactly forbidden, but it's not how an encyclopedic plot summary should be written either. Moreso, it's a warning sign that the summary may be a copyright violation. - A good plot summary summarizes the plot and does nothing else. It doesn't tease, avoid spoilers, comment, analize, or theorize. (See also: Wikipedia:How to write a plot summary) Goodraise 09:11, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Confusing user page

I am baffled to find a version of my user page which was edited by User:220.245.248.12 on 30th January 2009, and which contains a lot of info about another user who apparently has something to do with Lithuania. The page is at User:Sardaka&direction=next&oldid=267186025. Can you tell me what on earth it is, how two users would have got put on the same page, and does this involve any naughty activity on the part of User:220.245.248.12?

The page can be accessed through the contributions page of 220.245.248.12, which is how I found it.

Sardaka (talk) 09:33, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Anyone can edit another editor's user page - whether they should or not is a different matter!

220.245.248.12 edited your user page here; N1RK4UDSK714 regarded the edit as vandalism and reverted the edit here. N1RK4UDSK714 issued a level 1 vandalism warning to 220.245.248.12 here.

So... yes, 220.245.248.12 was being naughty, got caught, was warned, and their vandalism was fixed.

Cheers, TFOWR^{This flag once was red} 09:44, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

(edit conflict) A working link is [1]. The IP copied User:Renata3 to your user page for unknown reasons. It was reverted as vandalism 3 minutes later. Stuff like that is not uncommon. Just ignore it (and watch your user page). PrimeHunter (talk) 09:46, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Copyright query

Hi, I recently recieved messages that two of the photos I uploaded onto Blair Drummond Safari Park's page are set to be removed in the next few days unless I sort out their copyright status. The images are free to be used for sure, I suppose I must have forgotten to designate them so when I uploaded them. Can someone please tell me how I can change this? Thank you marmoset1000 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Marmoset1000 (talk • contribs) 10:23, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

If you refer to the messages on User talk:Marmoset1000 then the first image was deleted June 15. The messages say: "If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them at the media copyright questions page". Both images said photo by Nicola McCleery. Is that you? If so, do you want to release the images to the public domain (assuming you still hold copyright)? Or another license? See Wikipedia:Image copyright tags. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:52, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Molecular structure

Whomever concerned

I would like to know the molecular structure of a simple solution like a sugar or a salt solution the solvent being say water. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.211.189.192 (talk) 10:48, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Have you tried the Science 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. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:40, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Please do your own homework.
Welcome to the Wikipedia Help desk. Your question appears to be a homework question. I apologize if this is a misevaluation, but it is our policy here not to do others' homework, but merely to aid them in doing it themselves. Letting someone else do your homework does not help you learn how to solve such problems.
Please attempt to solve the problem yourself first. You can search Wikipedia or search the Web.
If you need help with a specific part of your homework, the Reference desk can help you grasp the concept. Do not ask knowledge questions here, just those about using Wikipedia. PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 13:29, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Question

Why are Wikipedia searches now case-sensitive? 121.220.109.214 (talk) 11:45, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Which type of search are you referring to? If you click the button saying "Search" below the search box then there should be no case sensitivity. If you click the "Go" button or click the Enter or Return key on your keyboard after writing a search term then you will jump straight to a page with that capitalization if it exists. If there is no page with that capitaliztion but one or more pages with other capitalizations then you jump to one of them. If there is no page with title match when capitalization is ignored then you should get a case insensitive search. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:59, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

The Go button version. It used to brng up a page even if it didn't use that capitalisation. But now, it only brings up pages that use only that capitalisation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.220.109.214 (talk) 12:34, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Could you give an example? I am not having this problem. PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 13:30, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

The Go button works the same way it always has, which is case-semisensitive. It first tries the exact thing you typed, then it tries all lowercase, then it tries all words capitalized, then it tries all uppercase, then it gives up and tries searching instead. Thus it will not find titles with mixed capitalization (e.g. The Lord of the Rings) unless you enter the title exactly correctly or appropriate redirects have been created. Algebraist 14:28, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

You can search case-insentively with Google, for example:

• Search Wikipedia with Google for: lord of the rings
• Search Wikipedia with Google for: lOrD oF tHe RiNgS
• Search Wikipedia with Google for: LORD OF THE RINGS (I'M NOT SHOUTING!)

--Teratornis (talk) 23:07, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Root Meaning of the Egyptial word?symbol(ankh)(Ancla) (anchor to physical form ie.Life?)

Ive sought the answer several places.Any help would be great.Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tztli (talk • contribs) 12:44, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

You might find what you are looking for in the article about Ankh. If you cannot find the answer there, you can try asking your question at Wikipedia's Reference Desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer just about any question in the universe (except about how to use Wikipedia, which is what this help desk is for). I hope this helps. TNXMan 12:48, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Editing rejected

Background: The article Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge is one of the best wikipedia articles I've ever seen. I am new to the editing process but I studied the rules and tried to follow the correct path toward a good edit. I was driven toward a goal of making the article factually perfect because it contained a small number of factual errors. It also contained a small number of subjective phrases and statements. Both categories of imperfection seem to have arisen by reliance on internet-available source material as of the summer of 2008. The user who created the article apparently does not have access to the most recent academic work on the subject, c. 2006. In hope of making the article more perfect, I spent several hours editing the article. I clicked the Save button, printed out the changes I'd made, then launched a research project to pick up anything I'd missed on the first edit attempt. Today none of the editing I'd done yesterday appears in the article. What did I do wrong? Jaxmrclean (talk) 13:12, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

As it is not showing on your Contributions Page, I would guess that you click on Preview instead of Save - this would explain why your work wasn't incorporated into the article. The only article about Suspension Bridges that your contributions show you working on is John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge. Hope this helps. PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 13:35, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Probably like steve says a preview instead of a save. It seems the last edit on the article is from July 15th (again the john a Roebling bridge). One thing i do whenever i make a major edit, is I copy the text and then click to post the edit. If the edit isnt there or a edit conflict occurs, i simply go back in and repaste my changes. Probably a better process, but ive had this happen to me a few times as well. If your in the habit of printing major changes one thing you could also do is get a pdf generator and print the article from that, if it every happened again, you can copy the text out of your printed pdf (just a thought). Ottawa4ever (talk) 13:39, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

How to collapse

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 01:06, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

How to make a hide/show collapse box on a talk page? (I've seen it explained somewhere, but can't remember where.) Thanks, Hordaland (talk) 13:47, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Look at Help:Collapsing. PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 13:48, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Help:Collapsing seems to deal with collapsible tables. I think what the OP wants is {{hidden begin}} and {{hidden end}}, or {{collapse top}} and {{collapse bottom}}. Deor (talk) 14:59, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Thank you both! The first for an almost impossibly quick answer, the second for probably much easier. I'm saving them both. (For the immediate situation, I decided to just delete 2-3 screenfulls of irrelevant talk...) - Hordaland (talk) 15:44, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, Deor... I didn't know about those! I've been working a lot with collapsible tables and lists, and didn't look beyond that! PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 17:59, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

That's very helpful, I can use that, thanks.--SPhilbrickT 12:42, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

to creat a new article

I would like to place a new article on distance education provided by VSPBU .How can I place that article in wikipediaSTANFORDAUH (talk) 13:57, 19 July 2009 (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.

Also, read our information on advertising. TNXMan 13:59, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Also, if you are thinking about using your user page as an article, its 1st person syntax would not be appropriate for an encyclopedia article. And its promotional tone would not meet Wikipedia’s neutrality requirement. Also it is a copyright violation of the VSPBU About page. In other words, it would require a complete rewrite to be acceptable here. Sorry. —teb728 t c 19:30, 19 July 2009 (UTC)