Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 November 22

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November 22

New user

Hello:

I am brand new to Wikipedia and would like to create a page for someone? How do I submit an article for approval? I have the article written out but not sure what to do next. Please help me. Thanks

Lily —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jonathan David George (talk • contribs) 00:30, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Please read WP:MOS and WP:YFA for guidelines on how articles work here. You can go to the Creation Wizard or Articles for Creation if you're not sure if your article meets guidelines. Otherwise, just type the title of the article you want to create in the box below, and copy your article from your external text editor (I assume you have it in there) into the field after you hit "Create"

Intelligentsium 00:48, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

On your talk page, I see that you tried to create a page about yourself. This might be not very bad, but you should explain why this could be a notable/educational article. Just think what Wikipedia could be like if all people created pages about:

1) themselves

2) their home streets

3) their teapots

4) the colors of their tables

5) the sizes of their Caps Lock keys

...

In that case, Wikipedia would not be informative or educational. See also Wikipedia in brief --Q0k (talk) 04:37, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Actually, this kid might be on to something with the Caps Lock Key sizes article. Get him a research grant and a team of grad students. CompuHacker (talk) 19:10, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Is there an index of templates?

I am trying to find out how to fix this. See this talk page. It shows a failed GA (good article) but has finally passed GA. There are two templates at the top. Can this be combined and fixed? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Alamogordo,_New_Mexico Suomi Finland 2009 (talk) 00:46, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

For an index see Wikipedia:Template messages and Category:Wikipedia templates  Ronhjones  ^(Talk) 01:33, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Category help

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 16:09, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

How does one create a page in an existing category? (I know how to add an article to a category) For instance, the page [Category:Government buildings by country] has many countries listed, but what if another country needs to be added? How do you add it? C.Kent87 (talk) 02:12, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

You would create a sub-category (not a sub-page) such as Category:Government buildings in Foo (Foo being a country), then add it to Category:Government buildings by country. Intelligentsium 02:15, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Category pages are created in the same way as article pages. If you create a new category as part of a category system then you can first see the source code of a similar category, for example Category:Government buildings in Canada, and adapt it to the new category. You must save at least one character when creating a category page. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:24, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Thank you both, I will see what I can do! C.Kent87 (talk) 02:27, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Violation of speedy deletion prod policy

I removed a speedy deletion prod on Harry N. MacLean (the prod says anybody can remove it and that it can't be replaced). However my prod removal was reverted. If he wants the article deleted it should go to afd. I don't want to engage in an edit war involving a clearly defined policy. I need some help. Thanks.Americasroof (talk) 06:35, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

I removed the restored PROD and left the editor a note. Cheers. Someguy1221 (talk) 06:41, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. Americasroof (talk) 06:47, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

.Americasroof - could you please comment on Tracer9999's assertion at Talk:Harry N. MacLean that you are Harry N. MacLean, so you are writing an article about yourself ? Gandalf61 (talk) 08:25, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

I think you misunderstand: Tracer9999's claim is that User:Mawale is Harry N. MacLean (not Americasroof). —teb728 t c 08:50, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I see that now. And as User:Mawale claims on their user page that they are indeed Harry N. MacLean, this page appears to be a clear violation of WP:AUTO. I have nominated the page at AfD. Gandalf61 (talk) 14:40, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Frankly I think that's a bad Afd. The guy is clearly notable (literary award winner) and autobios are not automatically deletable per se. The article seems reasonably neutral to me. Lack of references is not a reason to delete.  – ukexpat (talk) 15:55, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Mobile version

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 15:51, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

When I browsed wikipedia on my iPhone it used to take me to a preformatted mobile friendly version. I can't seem to find a link to that version anymore and I may have disabled it by mistake. Is there a link to this version or a way to re enable it? The closest thing I have found is the wikipedia mobile website but that is far more basic than the one I was using. Thanks in advance for the help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.7.3.223 (talk) 09:24, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Have you been to http://en.m.wikipedia.org yet? That's the official mobile version, as far as I know. Xenon54 / talk / 13:22, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Also, have you checked Mobile Access:iPhone/iPod Touch? All the solutions there are read-only access, though. If you want to be able to edit, you'll need to use Safari. Incidently, Mobile Access notes Unfortunately, the mobile.wikipedia.org site is exceptionally buggy when viewed on various mobile devices, including smart phones Apple iPhone and Google Android derived phones. Mobile users will frequently find that the mobile version of Wikipedia does not work at all or redirects them to error pages. Such problems have been ongoing since May 2009, and as of August 2009 the mobile Wikipedia site does not work at all for most devices. Also, the large "permanently disable mobile site" link is too easy to hit, and a means for re-enabling the mobile site in case of accidents is not apparent -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 14:57, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

On your device, visit http://enwp.org/WP:emv and follow the link that is mentioned on that page. After you should be redirected to the mobile version again. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 18:50, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

thank you both! That's the one I was looking for. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.7.3.223 (talk) 18:53, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Publishing an article

Resolved

 – Article moved. – ukexpat (talk) 15:50, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Per Wikipedia's request, I sandboxed the creation of my new article and it suggested that later, it would be easy to move the page, yet the instructions mention specific functionality that my editing page does not have.

Thanks in advance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:TFX/Infinite_Lives_(documentary)

TFX

• The instructions for moving it are here. However, having had a quick look at your draft, I would suggest that it is not yet ready to move into the encyclopedia. It needs references from reliable sources to show that it is notable. May I suggest that you read

• Wikipedia's General Notability Guidelines
• Wikipedia's Notability Guidelines for Films
• Wikipedia's Guidelines about Reliable Sources
• Wikipedia's Guidelines about Independent Sources
• How to cite references

If you have any further questions about using Wikipedia, please feel free to leave them here! -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 10:06, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Understood, but there's no "Move" button anywhere in the article editor or along the top tabs. Maybe it's because I'm in the Wiki Beta? TFX (talk) 17:52, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure about that, but I can't think of any other explanations - your account is autoconfirmed, so that's not the problem. I know that I can see the "move" tab at the top. If you are sure that you want to move it, let me know and I'll do it for you: but please confirm that you understand my concerns noted above - if you still think it is ready to be moved, I am happy to do it for you. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 18:29, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Interesting, but I just don't see it. Hmm. At any rate, yes, if you could move it over, I'll tidy it up. I've drafted a few Wiki pages myself so I understand the concerns on notability. Thanks! TFX (talk) 19:10, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Uploading picture in doc format

How please? Kittybrewster ☎ 12:12, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Don't. Convert it to an appropriate format first. Algebraist 12:32, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

How? Kittybrewster ☎ 12:40, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

You're telling us that you've made a picture in Word and you want to upload the picture as a Word document. Word and pictures don't go together, and Wikipedia doesn't allow you to upload Word documents (and if it did, not everyone could see it), so this is a tricky situation to get out of.

If the picture is a shape drawing or diagram, then you need to use the Print Screen key, paste the result in Paint, and save it as a PNG (although there are better ways to go about creating a diagram, such as making an SVG in Inkscape).

If the picture is an actual camera picture, then what the hell are you doing in Word? Just find it on your hard drive and then upload the picture directly. Xenon54 / talk / 13:21, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Thank you. Progress indeed. I have uploaded it to wikicommons but it is coming out wonky on Charles Arbuthnot. Kittybrewster ☎ 15:40, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

There are two wonkiness reasons. 1) Infoboxes have their own code for placing images so I removed yours in [1]. 2) Most of the image file commons:File:Rt Hon Charles Arbuthnot.jpg is white with the portrait in the upper left corner, so you have to crop the image with an external image tool and reupload it. In addition, the image should be tagged with a template from commons:Commons:Copyright tags. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:52, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

See Cropping (image) if you are unsure what cropping is. Also, when the image is properly cropped the current imagesize = 400px in Charles Arbuthnot should be reduced. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:56, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Size of an article

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 15:49, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Minor question, How would one caclulate the size of an article? (DYK purposes?) Thank you very much for your time Ottawa4ever (talk) 14:39, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

There are two options. If you look at Wikipedia:Did_you_know#Selection_criteria, bullet point two, you should see them there. TNXMan 14:45, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks a bunch Ottawa4ever (talk) 14:57, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Where do I go to settle a possible edit war?

Somebody's removing links per WP:EL which I don't think is justified, saying the filmography linked to is a minor part of the person's work. In my opinion, it's not, it's half of what they've done... Anyway, to avoid an edit war, who do I ask to help settle this?----occono (talk) 17:25, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

You could try 3rd Opinions, or one of the other steps in dispute resolution. But 3O would be my first stop, assuming you've already discussed it and it isn't going anywhere. --Bfigura ^(talk) 18:37, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

I'll do that I still feel like it tomorrow. I feel I might be too hotheaded about it now. (He was right about some other stuff we disputed, but the argument I was referring to here I still think he's wrong about, he seems to have a bias against people focusing their editing on one topic at a time, see my edit history if you really want to know what I'm on about....) Anyway, thanks very much!----occono (talk) 18:41, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

(edit conflict)A possible edit war can be hard to deal with! My first suggestion would be to discuss it with the editor in question on their talk page. If there is no response (I would make sure that when you think this, you check that they've been editing since you left your message - if they have, you can generally assume that they have seen your message!), or the response is negative, I would re-read Handling of edit-warring behaviors and then bring it up at Wikipedia:Third opinion -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 18:48, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, we discussed it. I might just forget about it, this is the reason I don't bother more with Wikipedia. He was right about some stuff but I can't be bothered fighting for the other stuff he unfairly reverted. (To be really petty, he seems to like RVing info a lot).----occono (talk) 19:23, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Talk:November 2009 Great Britain and Ireland floods

Anyone know why the WikiProject banner shells aren't autocollapsing? I tried copy and pasting a group of WikiProject banner shells from another article's talk page and on preview they don't collapse either. Maybe there is some template further down in the talk page that someone inserted or a dodgy signature. I'm stumped. Jolly Ω Janner 17:44, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

On Template:WikiProjectBannerShell, the default behavior is that the outer table is not collapsed, showing the summary of all the banners. You can override this by adding |collapsed=yes before the |1= clause, as documented at Template:WikiProjectBannerShell/doc#Optional parameters. --Mysdaao ^talk 18:15, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

It doesn't work. Jolly Ω Janner 18:32, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

It works when I view it. After your edit, the outer template is now collapsed when the page loads. --Mysdaao ^talk 18:37, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

When I view it in Firefox it works. In Internet Explorer it doesn't work. Weirdly, Talk:Climate of south-west England works fine in Internet Explorer. Jolly Ω Janner 19:02, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Image's discussion page

Hello, could somebody please explain to me what is the proper contest to be put at an image's discussion page? Do we have any written policies for that matter? Thanks.--Mbz1 (talk) 20:42, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

• Discussion pages (or talk pages are they are called) are just a place where people can discuss the article (or in this case, image). This discussion may cover perceived problems, ideas for improvements, etc (as a rule, most images do not have comments! if there are copyright problems, they will be nominated for deletion; if a better image can be found, someone will upload it in place of the current image). If you want to know more, you can read Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines or Help:Talk page. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 20:52, 22 November 2009 (UTC)
  • Thank you for the response, I'd like to ask you more specific question please: Is an image discussion page is a proper place to discuss an image's creator? Thank you--Mbz1 (talk) 21:17, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

That depends on what aspects of the creator you want to discuss. Talk pages are for discussing improvements to whatever is on the associated page. There are probably many aspects of an image's creator which are irrelevant to improving an encyclopedia, but some aspects would be highly relevant, such as for example if the creator has died then the number of years since his or her death would determine whether the image has passed into the public domain. See Commons:Help:Public domain. If you tell us what aspects of the creator you want to discuss, we can tell you where to discuss them. --Teratornis (talk) 22:13, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

why do I need active X enabled on internet explorer?

Firefox on my computer literally stops everything as soon as I open any form for editing on wikipedia and a fwe other sites. Thinking myself clever, I decided to use IE. However, wikipedia pages keep prompting me that since I have active X off, page may not display fine but it is just great. I hate having to click this and the only other site I've found with this problem is pubmed weg pages ( which doesn't matter since Iuse their API for everything and that actually works flawlessly on cygwin, their webpages also report stack overflow and out of memory problems of not rendering consequences ). so, I guess I can turn all that juink on but why is it needed as it doesn't seem to contribute anything and may just open up resource wastes or securityu problems? Most sites are fine, it is just a few that cause these problems.Everything is fine on Debian no prompts and generally displays ok (I would put debian here except this stupid laptop has to run some windoze only code for development). Thanks. Nerdseeksblonde (talk) 22:27, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

Vertical Brackets?

Is there an existing template that shows bracketing vertically in the way Template:48TeamBracket shows it horizontally? Thanks. — Reinyday, 22:54, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

{{Familytree}}, perhaps? Intelligentsium 00:05, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Making Article Active

Hi There, I have written an article but it has not been published. Am I missing something? how do I make the article active? when I do a search it does not come up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Egyptiancotton (talk • contribs) 23:23, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

According to your contributions, the only article content you have written is on your user page User:Egyptiancotton about Canningvale. If you tried to create a regular encyclopedia article besides that, then a common cause is that you pushed "Show preview" instead of "Save page". You have to push "Save page" for edits to be recorded. If you want to move what you wrote already into the article space, then press the "Move" tab and type the title you want the article to have, or ask someone here to move it for you. --Mysdaao ^talk 23:58, 22 November 2009 (UTC)