Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 July 29

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July 29

Questions re citation form and other matters

I have a question regarding the proper form of citation. I cite articles in this format: Is this the proper format? I have seen folks use different ones including lots of half pipes. Thanks for any insight you can offer.

Also, another minor question I have is when I make a minor edit do I have to sign with four tildes when I am logged in? It looks like my name appears anyway.

Last question: how do I get Wikipedia to email me when changes are made to a page that I am watching?

Thank you again! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Likesausages (talk • contribs) 14:55, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Either one is fine, you're thinking of {{cite}} • S • C • A • R • C • E • 01:19, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Minor edits, Are you talking about revision history? No, four tildes (~~~~) is not necessary and may look confusing to future editors. Click "My Preferences" then scroll down and click the box "E-mail me when a page on my watchlist is changed" • S • C • A • R • C • E • 01:23, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

1. The way that you format refs is correct. The easiest way to cite anything online is to use {{citeweb}}, which produces the exact same thing that you just provided.
2. Nothing should be sign on articles, only discussion pages. You name still shows in the edit history of the page. For more information, see WP:MINOR.
3. Wikipedia cannot email you when changes are made to pages that you are watching, but you can favorite your watchlist page. You can subscribe to an RSS feed of updates to your watchlist. See this link: WP:RSS#RSS Feeds on Wikipedia. hmwithτ 01:24, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

And see in getting refTools. It adds to your toolbar for citation convenience. • S • C • A • R • C • E • 01:30, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Oh definitely! That tool has been used so much by myself over the last few days - well recommended! -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 01:35, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Another plug for CITE —I almost forgot it wasn't standard.--SPhilbrickT 01:39, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Thank you everyone! Likesausages (talk) 12:46, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

Trustee vote

When I click on the "please vote" link I get the message:

--> Wiki does not exist--SPhilbrickT 00:58, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Works for me, try the direct link at https://wikimedia.spi-inc.org/index.php/Special:SecurePoll/vote/17 . Nanonic (talk) 01:00, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I think being on the SSL server screws it up. Xenon54 (talk) 01:01, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I am on the secure server. A tad ironic - I can't get to the secure vote page from the Secure page:)--SPhilbrickT 01:37, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

syllables

wat is the rules for syllabification of english words —Preceding unsigned comment added by Swathi sukumar (talk • contribs) 01:14, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Have you tried the Language 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. Algebraist 01:15, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I need help...

I'm a recording artist. Sadly, the only way I can produce a bio is if it is on wiki. I know it is frowned upon to do a band bio on here, but I also know it can be done. How do I do this? It is crucial for me to have this. Any help would be awesome. Thank you so very much. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.47.93.44 (talk) 02:11, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Are you notable? Are you published elsewhere on the the internet? If so just search your name on the Wikipedia and click the red link • S • C • A • R • C • E • 02:23, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

But before you do that, please read Wikipedia's guidelines on notability and their policy about conflict of interest. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 02:26, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Oh, and how to create citations! -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 02:27, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Judging by your comment "the only way I can produce a bio is if it is on wiki", I'd guess you won't qualify WP:MUSICBIO. We need coverage at least to some extent by reliable third party sources. So if you fail the notability criteria, I suggest you go for something like a blog if you are looking to put up a website for you. ≈ Chamal ^talk 03:11, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I don't know why you write "the only way I can produce a bio is if it is on wiki". But there are many other wikis than Wikipedia, for example WikiPopuli and Biographicon. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:58, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

They all tell me that it has to be a wikipedia article. I was gonna just do one in my sandbox, but they said that was no good. I'm on a lot of sites on the internet, although I don't know if that counts. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.47.93.44 (talk) 04:14, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Who are "they"? Are you doing publicity for a band where the members demand a Wikipedia article? Wikipedia is not your or their website and we are not here to do publicity for bands, although we have many encyclopedic articles about bands satisfying WP:MUSICBIO. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:26, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Mainly Lala.com. Others are emusic.com, napster.com, and billboard.com. It's really no different than what you seek here when creating an article. They just want a credible third party article. Guitar god zilla (talk) 04:44, 29 July 2009 (UTC) I do meet the following articles on WP:MUSICBIO: #2, #5, #9, and #11. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.47.93.44 (talk) 04:19, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Then try reading WP:NPOV and WP:No Original Research before trying to create an article. If you don't have an NPOV, the article would still be no good. Kayau David Copperfield MOBY DICK the great gatsby 05:35, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

By the way, if I were you I'd ask a fan to do it. Doing it yourself is tough. Trust me. Kayau David Copperfield MOBY DICK the great gatsby 05:37, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I would consider contacting a Wikiproject such as Wikiproject Rock (or which ever is most relevant to the genre) and seeing if they can help you. Some Wikiprojects also take article requests. Seeing as you're connected to the band, it would be much better if you didn't make the article yourself. --Kraftlos (Talk | Contrib) 05:46, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Thank you very much. I think this will help me very much. ResolvedGuitar god zilla (talk) 06:23, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Judging by a Google search, this artist is quite notable See this • S • C • A • R • C • E • 07:46, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

A large number of g-hits doesn't necessarily indicate notability. Trim the search a bit and check out "The New Lew Johnson", which shows myspace like sites, some youtube videos, a large number of music sites etc. To establish notability we need reliable third party sources. ≈ Chamal ^talk 11:51, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Also check out Articles for Creation. – ukexpat (talk) 15:43, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

ArbCom policy for interwiki issues

What is the policy on which Arbitration Committee has jurisdiction over cases involving multiple Wikiprojects, or Wikiprojects that don't have their own ArbComs? NeonMerlin 03:19, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Just for clarification: I think you're confusing terms (the way they're used here). A WikiProject is a group of users who collaborate on a specific topic, such as in the Ohio Wikiproject, and other similar wikis are referred to as Wikimedia sister projects. hmwithτ 03:55, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Wikiprojects don't have their own ArbComs, but some of the larger ones have groups of 'coordinators' (but their tasks are different from ArbCom). The arbitration committee doesn't have anything to do with Wikiprojects directly. It's main purpose is to settle disputes that - simply put - get out of hand. It can also impose restrictions on involved editors which may include sanctions from editing articles related to a certain Wikiproject, but does not involve telling a Wikiproject what to do. ≈ Chamal ^talk 05:45, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I think he's referring to different Wikimedia projects as Wikiprojects. hmwithτ 11:21, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

how

how do you make your own artical from scratch? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nishan123454321 (talk • contribs) 08:14, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Read WP:Your first article • S • C • A • R • C • E • 08:25, 29 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. TNXMan 11:53, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

All of that content can be found at WP:Your first article, which I have already linked • S • C • A • R • C • E • 14:29, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

In a quandry

Male dominance is currently formatted as a dab page, but isn't one really, since Patriarchy is an expression of the concept, not an equivalent, and that leaves just one legitimate dab entry. The topic is certainly encyclopedic, but I'm not the one to write it. In the meantime, deleting the page seems a bit drastic, but I can't think what else to do. Suggestions? Clarityfiend (talk) 10:44, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

The purpose of the dab page is so that if someone is looking for patriarchy, but types in male dominance (i.e. a society where males dominate) then they should see this page - likewise with the other entry. If you feel that a specific article about Male dominance is required, then perhaps I could suggest that you create a draft one in your user space, and then invite people to look at and improve it? I'm not sure exactly what you want in the article - so a draft (even if it is very rough - that's the advantage of user pages!) would help me (and others) to understand what you think the article should be about. Please excuse me if I'm being a bit dense here (some of my friends would say the word here is superfluous!) but I'm not sure what you expect in an article on this subject. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 10:52, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

A dab should not be thought of as a thesaurus type page. A thesaurus groups words that are similar in meaning, so seeing both words on the same page does imply some similarity of meaning (though not necessarily equivalence). A dab page provides a very different service. The current construction of the page is: "X" may refer to "Y" or "Z", and in some cases, "Y" or "Z" might be very similar in meaning to "X", but in some cases the meanings are very different. Read a dab page as if it were constructed: You searched for "X", our experience shows that some people searching for "X" really want to read about "Y" or "Z". --SPhilbrickT 11:25, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

How to add a new topic to Wikipedia

Hello, I am new bee to wikipedia and want to add a topic. how to get start with it. And how can I add the Images to my topic. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Srinisv (talk • contribs) 12:06, 29 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. See Wikipedia:Images for basic instructions on using images. ≈ Chamal ^talk 12:07, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

reference format

Resolved

 – Just a simple mistake by the Safety Inspector. ≈ Chamal ^talk 13:02, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Where am I going wrong with this? It is formating oddly in the article. --Cameron Scott (talk) 12:47, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

You forgot <ref></ref> tags. Xenon54 (talk) 12:51, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

...doh! --Cameron Scott (talk) 12:57, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I forgot to log in

I made an edit without logging in. Is there a way to tie my edit to my account? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jeremybox (talk • contribs) 13:07, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Simple answer is No. It will be recorded under the IP you used to edit. ≈ Chamal ^talk 13:11, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

For the record, this was possible some time ago (see Wikipedia:Changing attribution for an edit), but is now discontinued. ≈ Chamal ^talk 13:26, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

If you don't want your IP address to be visible for privacy reasons then you can request removal at Wikipedia:Requests for oversight. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:52, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

• If you made an edit without logging in, you cannot go back and directly tie that edit to your account. You can log in, make a dummy edit, and add a note in the edit summary about the previous edit.

• If you feel that the connection between the IP address and your username is an issue, then you can request that the edit be removed; see Wikipedia:Oversight#Policy and Wikipedia:Requests for oversight.

• As a visual reminder, you can make the Save page button green when logged in, by adding this rule to your CSS:

/* Turn the "Save page" button green when logged in */
INPUT#wpSave {
    background-color:#88ff88;
}

---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 15:22, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Ogg sources

What are considered proper sources for copyrighted Ogg files? • S • C • A • R • C • E • 13:54, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Could you clarify the question? Do you mean uploading a copyrighted file per Wikipedia:Non-free_content#Acceptable_use? ≈ Chamal ^talk 14:35, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

If it helps any, I've noticed that articles of well-known songs (e.g. The Chain) have 30-second ogg samples. I assume this means that copyrighted music as a source is OK as long as you claim fair use. What I haven't been able to find is copyrighted video, as it seems all video currently on Wikipedia is public domain or otherwise freely licensed. Xenon54 (talk) 17:20, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I mean would it have to come from an official site? Would Yahoo! Music be acceptable? • S • C • A • R • C • E • 02:39, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

Licensing

Hi, I uploaded a picture that I was given permission to use by a user on Flickr. What should my licensing and permission be? This is the image. Please respond on my talk page (I like these types of things close at hand). User:AMLNet49-Talk-Cont 16:31, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

It's a far more complicated process than that I'm afraid. The image on flickr is copyrighted - all rights reserved, to be exact. Wikipedia (all Wikimedia projects that is) can use images that comply with the licenses used by Wikipedia; Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License, GNU Free Documentation License or Public Domain. The image you have uploaded, as it is now, is liable to be CSD'd as a WP:COPYVIO. The original author of the image should release it under one of the above mentioned licenses for us to be able to use it. One way is for the author to email WP:OTRS. See here for a complete set of instructions. ≈ Chamal ^talk 14:46, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I have tagged it for deletion. We can't be sure if permission has been or will be granted. Further, an IP has added this to the page claiming that he is the author and he never gave permission to use it here. I'm not accusing you of blatantly violating copyright, but just to be on the safe side. ≈ Chamal ^talk 15:00, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

How do I move a TALK page out of my account to a "live" page that is visible to all?

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 01:50, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

Here is the page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Peter_DeMaria

SBCLA (talk) 15:36, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

The page was never in your userspace, but rather, was on a talk page. I've moved the page to Peter DeMaria. This articles does appear to have issues, however, especially with peacock terms. TNXMan 15:38, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Oh boy, doesn't it just! Almost a dead giveaway that it was written by a PR person. – ukexpat (talk) 15:47, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I've hacked away at it and think it looks much better. Thoughts? TNXMan 15:55, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Looks good -- apart from my aversion to Biography sections in biographies -- I'll fix that. – ukexpat (talk) 16:33, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Photo Removal/Replacement

I wish to have the photo on Sasha Vujacic's page removed, can you help?

Attentionsports (talk) 15:48, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Hi there. I think that you probably meant the picture at the top of the article Sasha Vujačić, showing Mr. Vujačić at a Louis Vuitton event in Beverly Hills. I searched on the internet, and confirmed that it was a copyright image; therefore it has been deleted.

Thank you for bringing it to our attention.

If you have a suitable photograph that we could use, please could you follow the instructions in Wikipedia:Contact us/Photo submission. Thanks,  Chzz  ►  16:27, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Formula to programming example popups

When I hover over formulas in the physics sections, a pop up with a programming example for the formula pops up, but then disappears before I can read all of it. How can I save it or add time to read it? Also, is this programming example structured for a certain calculator, or a specific programming language example? Charleyakeley (talk) 16:08, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Many formulas on Wikipedia are generated with a superset of LaTeX. See Help:Displaying a formula. Your browser is probably showing the LaTeX code used to generate the formula. You can see and copy the code in an edit window by clicking edit (or in some cases view source) on the page or section where the formula is. At Special:Preferences under the Appearance tab is the option "Leave it as TeX (for text browsers)". If you select and save this option then you will see the TeX instead of the graphic formula in the article. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:04, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Copyright question

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 01:48, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

I would like to recreate a map from a copyrighted volume, using QGIS and my own time. The page in question is http://www.geo.umass.edu/faculty/wilkie/Wilkie/hist_mass_p4.jpg from the site http://www.geo.umass.edu/faculty/wilkie/. I have checked the FAQs but I think I need an answer about this directly, because "facts cannot be copyrighted" according to the FAQ but it may be stretching the concept in this case. I would use my own time, recreating the map from scratch and using my own colors. The dates would probably have to stay the same, but that information is freely available. Is this OK? Sswonk (talk) 16:10, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

A copy of a copyrighted image is still copyrighted. Changing colours etc would not prevent it from being a copy. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 16:16, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

(edit conflict) I'm not 100% positive, but I believe this OK. Skimming though Wikipedia:WikiProject Maps, the creation of free maps is encouraged, since it's your own work. You may want to ask on the project's talk page for more details, however. TNXMan 16:17, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I agree with Tnxman that they would be the people to ask - just put the question at their talk page - the book from which the picture was taken was published in 1991, so well within copyright. Perhaps you could contact Prof Wilkie and ask for permission to use it? Refer him to Donating copyrighted materials which gives details about how to release it with a suitable license. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 16:21, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I am copying these comments to the WP:MAPS talk page. I will probably also contact Prof Wilkie to give him a heads up, and definitely credit him as the source of the data in Commons, once it is figured out at WP:MAPS. Thank you for the responses. Sswonk (talk) 16:36, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

printable with IE7

I printed the printable version of Goertzel algorithm using IE7. The table of contents is blank. Some math sections are blank. There are problems with the sample code (that I can understand). Is this a known problem? RJFJR (talk) 17:16, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

There is a known problem with blank pages in IE7 described at Help:Printable#Blank pages in Internet Explorer, but it sounds like your problem may be different. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:51, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Did bypassing your browser cache for MediaWiki:Common.js help? Do you see the same problem from your browser print preview? ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 19:48, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

unable to edit particular article

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 21:39, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I've been intensively editing Imperial cult (ancient Rome) for a few months now, but as of 29 July 13.32 I've tried to copy and paste the article into User:Haploidavey/Cultish for prolonged editing while keeping the article itself open and available - but nothing happens in the article history, which stays stuck on the 13.32 version. The article and userpage versions stay exactly where they were on the watchpage and both timestamps are unchanged. I just tried an edit on another article from my watchlist - no problems there, and it goes straight to the top of my watchpage. I'm not very computer-literate at all: so I wonder if I'm doing something wrong. Haploidavey (talk) 18:53, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean. You created User:Haploidavey/Cultish 11 June 2009 and have edited it around 400 times. You have also edited Imperial cult (ancient Rome) a lot of times. Is there one of the pages where you try to make new changes after 29 July 13.32 and click "Save page" but the changes are not saved? PrimeHunter (talk) 19:16, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I had no difficulty making an empty edit to Imperial cult (ancient Rome). —teb728 t c 20:30, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I noticed that, TEB. Thanks, I'll try again. Haploidavey (talk) 20:34, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

This time it worked. I've no idea what caused my glitch, but thank you PrimeHunter and TEB. (PS: btw, PrimeHunter, just to clarify - I was trying to save the contents of Imp. Cult. to the userpage). Haploidavey (talk) 20:37, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

The reason why you couldn't save it was that you hadn't made any changes. (The software does not record a change if there is no change.) The reason why it worked later was because my empty edit made it slightly different. (I removed a blank line.) —teb728 t c 20:58, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Was that it?? Basic stuff, then - I was convinced I'd cut a whole paragraph to move to another article, but I guess I just copied it. Dim of me, really. Thank you again. Haploidavey (talk) 21:10, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Could someone please update my bio?

I added an update, but don't know how to delete the old out of date content.

Rand Wilson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rand_Wilson —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rand Wilson (talk • contribs) 21:07, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

It's actually strongly frowned upon to do that. I suspect it will be deleted soon. A better approach would be to contribute on the talk page, identifying material you think should be added or deleted, and most importantly, pointing people to reliable sources to back it up. This may seem surprising to you, but you don't qualify as a reliable source. (or to be more precise, you do not have a wp:NPOV). If you can point people to the correct information, other editors can help make the changes.--SPhilbrickT 21:33, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Because of your conflict of interest, you should not edit an article about yourself. You should note your concerns on the article's talk page and provide reliable sources for your requested changes. – ukexpat (talk) 21:36, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

artist profiles

Im new to updating Wiki. i work at a recode label and want to know how i can handle all our artist pages? 21:29, 29 July 2009 (UTC)~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Brandyheron (talk • contribs)

Short answer, you don't. Long answer because of your conflict of interest, you should not edit such articles. You should note your concerns on the article's talk page and provide reliable sources for your requested changes. – ukexpat (talk) 21:38, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

See Help:Talk page and Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines for instructions on how to note your concerns on the talk pages of Wikipedia articles. --Teratornis (talk) 05:40, 30 July 2009 (UTC)