Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 April 25

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April 25

Can I merge my two accounts?

I've been editing from this account for about four years. Then a year ago I created another account and did some editing from there. (Never to engage in sock-puppetry; it was a legitimate second account.)

Is it possible to merge these two accounts?

The main reason is, I'd like all the articles I've created in that other account to get credited to this account. I've created ~900ish article in this account, and about ~50ish articles in the other account, and I'd like them all to accrue to this account, user:Agradman. So my brother can tell me what a big loser I am, or something.

Thanks. Andrew Gradman ^talk/_WP:Hornbook 03:19, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

No, sorry, it is not possible - we do not change the attribution of edits, because it causes problems with the historic record which is required under GFDL licencing.

You may wish to add an explanation and link to your other account on your userpage or talkpage - you could use [[Special:Contributions/account name]] to provide the link. You could also log in to the other account and add a 'confirmation' post to the message, thus 'proving' that you used the other account. Thus, your contributions under the other name could be considered (e.g. when applying for any special rights).

If you no longer need the other account, I recommend that you redirect the user page and user talk pages to your new account, change the password to something crazy-long, and forget about it - to avoid possible future problems. Best,  Chzz  ►  09:18, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Ahhh ... a darn shame ... but thanks for describing all the alternatives. Andrew Gradman ^talk/_WP:Hornbook 14:02, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Old account watchlist

Hey. I just started a secondary new account because i lost the password to my other one. Anyway at all i can get the watchlist from my old account to my new one? Homework2 ^{pass a note}contribs 03:30, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

• Ordinarily, I'd tell you to go into your old account and copy-paste your old raw watchlist into your new one.
• Now, if you can't get into your old account, my next question is, Have you hit the "Email New Password" on the login page?
• That won't work if your email address isn't associated with your old account ... in which case, I'm out of ideas. :(
• Andrew Gradman ^talk/_WP:Hornbook 03:43, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Yes unfortunately i lost the password to my old account....Darn. Thanks anyway. Homework2 ^{pass a note}contribs 14:05, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

A clarification on my web site

I created a site named Konaseema dravidlu, kuthsa gothram, Visanasola telugu brahmins' genealogy. I am a descendant of this generation. Today I saw a warning at the site that it is proposed for deletion. All photos of my great-grand-parents are our family photographs. The photographs of our native town, railways station, temple were shot by me and so the copyright is mine. The links to the newspaper articles show porposed deletion. Why? I am the author of Tamil & English articles and I have reproduced from my archives that were published in other magazines. Each page at the bottom shows the name of the magazine, issue date and my name.Who can object my literary work? The genealogy chart in PDF was designed by me. I don't see any reason for my page to be deleted.

May I know the valid reason for deleting my page?

It hasn't been deleted yet, but the reasoning is found here. We don't make articles on just any old subject. The topic has to be notable, which is defined on the page I linked to. –Turian (talk) 08:03, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

It is not your site or your page. See WP:OWN. Kittybrewster ☎ 10:43, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

The article has been deleted so I can't view it, but judging from your description and the title you gave your query, I think you may have misunderstood what Wikipedia is and is not.

What you created was not "your web site" or "your page", but a freely accessible article in an enycyclopaedia that anyone can edit. By uploading your material, which seems to be important to you and which you say has been published previously, you were placing it somewhere where others can reuse it, redistribute it, and make changes to it. You would have no right to assert authorship of it on the article page, and no special editorial control over it. Is that what you intended? Also, if the material has been published in other magazines already, it may have copyright issues that would make it unsuitable for Wikipedia until they were properly addressed. I haven't seen the images you uploaded or which licenses you assigned to them, but you were probably putting them into a situation where other people could reuse them for purposes totally unrelated to the encyclopaedia, and of which you might not necessarily approve. Did you intend to do this with your family photographs? Finally, as Turian explains above, if you want to make an article about a particular generation of your family, you have to explain why that topic is notable enough (by Wikipedia criteria) to have its own encyclopaedia article. Karenjc 10:50, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Oops, redlink has gone blue and I can see the article now. My comments above on ownership, notability and the use of images still apply. Karenjc 10:59, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

How to quickly add templates to articles?

Hi, Similar to WP:HOTCAT, is there any quick method or link to add templates to articles? Thanks in advance. Thaejas (talk) 08:51, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

WP:FRIENDLY. Kittybrewster ☎ 10:37, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. I already have the script in my monobook.js. Pls let me know how I can add templates in article without clicking on the "edit this page". Pls help. Thaejas (talk) 11:25, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Click on "Tag". Kittybrewster ☎ 11:33, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Hi, I could not find the "tag" as you mentioned in any page. I use IE8.0 as my browser. I suppose it does not work on IE 8.0. Thanks.-Thaejas (talk) 12:32, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

You will love Firefox. Kittybrewster ☎ 12:40, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

I have installed Firefox. But from the "Tag" tab, I cannot select specific template to be added into an article. Only the wikipedia policy/action templates are available. If I wanted to add Template:Hindu temples in Andhra Pradesh to the article Ahobilam, how do I achieve from the "Tag" tab?. Thanks in advance. Thaejas (talk)

Twinkle only inserts maintenance templates. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 16:38, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

So can you confirm that there is no quick method to add user-specific templates to articles? If that is so, then I would like to put this as an improvement required in wikipedia. This will help editors to quickly add templates similar to WP:HOTCAT.—Thaejas (talk) 00:01, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

Printing

I am trying to print the article using the 'Printable version' option. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_IV_reactor My printer will not print the 3rd page properly

On other web pages not associated with Wikipedia, I've used the print option in IE6 and found the article 'spreadeagled' all over the page with only bits of text showing.

I have searched the web looking to see what's wrong with my printer or IE6.

Can you shed any light on what is going wrong?

With a browser as old as IE6, you are correct to use the Printable link. Current browsers don't need to use Printable— see Help:Printable. If you do a print preview, and it shows the same issue, then it is not the printer driver. I checked the page with IE8 and it looks fine. We struggle to maintain compatibility with older browsers, especially IE6 and before. If you can, upgrade to IE8 or FireFox. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 11:29, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Genealogy of Nawab Family of Baroda

Moved to Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Humanities. Kittybrewster ☎ 12:09, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Unused XFD logs

Can empty XFD logs like Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2010 April 22 be speedy-deleted, and if so, under which criteria would that be? --The Evil IP address (talk) 14:01, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

I don't see relevant criteria and I think deletion would be a bad idea. It would damage navigation, cause confusing redlinks, and only admins would be able to check there were no nominations by viewing the deleted page. It would be better to add a note to the page explicitly saying there were no nominations. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:34, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Replacing a section on Koch Indsutries article

Several days ago I proposed a new / replacement section for the article Koch Industries. At present there is a section titled Acquisitions and related milestones which has a few problems: It is primarily a bulleted list, it provides little context for its facts, it is copied directly from an SEC filing, and it includes an unrelated paragraph at the end. I've created and posted to my user space an alternative version called Corporate history which solves the first 3 issues, and it is my suggestion to put the last paragraph into a new section. A more detailed version of this situation is available on the Koch Industries Talk page.

The reason I do not make this change right now is that Koch is a client of my employer, and I am very mindful of avoiding a conflict. I've previously asked for input from two editors who have recently been active on the article, but they have not responded despite being active elsewhere on WP. Meanwhile, WikiProject Companies has been silent for a few weeks. That is why I am taking the request here. If the section looks good, feel free to replace it yourself, or give me the green-light if you prefer. If you have any questions or suggestions, please reply on the Talk page for Koch Industries. Cheers, NMS Bill (talk) 15:34, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

I uploaded a picture and it was removed. Why?

I submitted a picture on the Twelve Apostles, Victoria (Australia) that's an unusual limestone formation off the south shore. It was removed and I don't know why. I think I followed all Wiki guidelines and I am the sole owner of the picture. (I took it when I was there.) Any help? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Homo Homini Canis Est (talk • contribs) 17:10, 25 April 2010

I can see no contributions from you except this one, are you sure it happened? Dougweller (talk) 16:40, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Are you referring to this upload? It was not removed; it is at Commons. Intelligentsium 16:47, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Yes, that's it. Thanks. Very strange though: this link works. BUT when I wanted to find the same picture @ Commons I couldn't. I must be inexperienced. I'm sorry and thanks again. ALSO: please allow me to note that I'm one of the biggest fan of Wiki and I'm determined to improve and submit contributions. Thanks again.

Click the "my contributions" link at top of any page to see your edits at that wiki. At Commons it gives commons:Special:Contributions/Homo Homini Canis Est which Dougweller must have seen. Finding a file with the search box can be tricky if you don't enter the exact file name with File: in front of it. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:31, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

I must be doing something wrong b/c no matter where I click on the "files uploaded" and/or "my contribution" my picture wouldn't come up. It is there, as you sent me the link, only I couldn't find it by myself. I'd like to upload a whole lot of pics and I'd like to make sure other people could see them. Thanks. Homo Homini Canis Est (talk) 19:01, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Commons and each Wikipedia language have separate uploads and logs. You have to be logged in at a commons: page when clicking "my contributions". PrimeHunter (talk) 19:25, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Files uploaded at Commons can be displayed at any Wikipedia language so please keep uploading them there if the license allows it. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:28, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Trans → Subst

Resolved

 – with help from PrimeHunter. (Thanks!) ^Avicenna_sis @ 19:42, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Is there an easy way to go from transclusion to substitution? Preferably one that doesn't involve editing the pages directly? ^Avicenna_sis @ 17:15, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

There are bots which can do it but only should in certain cases. Which substitutions do you want to do? PrimeHunter (talk) 18:23, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

By the way, the bots do it by editing the pages. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:24, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Back before I actually read the guidelines, I was transcluding User:Avicennasis/sig. The policy says not to do this, ( Facepalm ) as there are a high vandalism target and cause heavy server load... It's on less than 250 pages, and I am not sure how to handle it. I figure my options are:

1. Leave it alone (If not considered a big issue)
2. Have a bot correct it (If the number of transclusions has cause for concern on server load)
3. Have an admin protect the page (If the server load is fine, but stops vandalism)

Needless to say I don't do this anymore, but I would like to correct my mistake. I could do it manually, but the rest are all in User Talk and I am not sure how to suppress a banner pop (if that is possible here.) ^Avicenna_sis @ 19:00, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

I have protected it right away in case a vandal reads this. I don't know whether bots can set a flag to not give a new messages banner on user talk edits but I think we should just leave it alone. User talk pages tend to get fewer views and less server load than many other pages. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:20, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Sounds good to me. I did not think that there would be a performance issue with it, mainly just wanting to make sure I attempted to fix my error. If it seems OK to leave as is, I will consider this resolved. Thanks for everything! :) ^Avicenna_sis @ 19:42, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

How do I upload a picture to a Wikipedia article?

My question is simple..

Exactly, how do I upload a jpeg image to an article in a Wikipedia article?

The image is on my computer, and I simply want to insert it into an article that I wrote.

I need the step-by-step directions, and don't assume I know my computer. I don't know all the in's and out's of posting to Wikipedia. Please list the steps one by one.

Thank you!

WP:UPIMAGE is a step by step guide.--SPhilbrickT 17:27, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

While it may sound a little complicated, images are NOT simply inserted into articles. They are uploaded to a location (ideally, Commons), and then you make a link to the specific file. Because we take copyright seriously, you will have to address licensing issues. It sounds complicated, but if you took the picture, it should be easy. --SPhilbrickT 17:30, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Please tell us more about the image. Who created it? Where was it created (i.e., what country)? When was it created? What does it depict? Who owns the copyright? Wikimedia Commons is a repository of free content media files (such as images). There are many possible cases to consider when determining whether an image can be free content or not. If you found the image somewhere on the Internet, it is probably not free. If you created the image yourself, then you might be able to release it as free content (for example by choosing the {{cc-by-sa-3.0}} license when you upload it), but only if the image you created is not a derivative work of something that is under copyright to someone else. --Teratornis (talk) 18:00, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

So can one upload the picture which he had takne and post it in the article without any issue are there are some more techinical terms in doing that i want urgent help in this please guide me. Regards--Sandeep (talk) 10:36, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

Delete User Account

Another user created a wikipedia account using my full name as the title. I do not know who the user is and would like to delete that user account as it appears on google search inquiries. How do I do this?  — [Unsigned comment added by Moofafa (talk • contribs) 17:28, 25 April 2010 (UTC).]

Who is it? And you should sign your posts with 4 tildes ~~~~ Dougweller (talk) 17:47, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Obviously <name removed>. You could try WP:USURP to ask to take over the account. Please don't blank it again. Dougweller (talk) 17:50, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Are you the same person as the user wrote about in <removed>? PrimeHunter (talk) 18:14, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

If so, and you want your personal information removing from the page history, you can ask at Wikipedia:Requests for oversight. You can also ask at Wikipedia:Usernames for administrator attention for the account to be blocked permanently on the grounds that it is a misleading username, if you believe it was created in order to impersonate you. But please don't edit the page any more. You can't delete it yourself, and it's not appropriate to put a "retired" template on another user's account without their permission. Karenjc 15:46, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

Editing Introduction to "Siege of Louisbourg 1745"

The beginning or introduction (first text on the page) refers to a "British force" capturing Louisbourg in 1745, whereas it was a New England Colonial land force aided by the Royal Navy.

The fact that a colonial expedition succeeded (with naval help) in reducing the most powerful fortress in North America is that outstanding fact of the event. I was able to change references to "British" forces to "colonial" or "New England colonial" in the "Battle" section of the page, but was unable to edit the introduction. When I clicked on the "edit" button at the bottom of the introduction it brought up the "Prelude" section.

How do I edit the introductory paragraph?

Thank you.

William Owens

Owniejr (talk) 18:06, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Click the "edit this page" tab at top of the page. See other options at Wikipedia:Lead section#Editing the lead section. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:18, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

link to edit references appears to be incorrect

I'm trying to edit (update) a reference in the "Steel" article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel) and the "edit" link leads to a page that doesn't seem to correspond to the actual references. Therefore, I am unable to edit the reference section. What can I do?Nathan Horne (talk) 18:18, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

You have to edit the section the reference is linked from. Click the little ^{^} to the left of the reference to find that section. See more at Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners. If there are small linked letters instead of ^{^} then you have to find the right letter, often the first. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:35, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

I am unable to edit articles

Dear Sir or Madam,

I contacted you about two months ago and you advised me that I could create a new account. (Your system does not remember me, I edited many articles about 7 years ago.)

Today I tried to register my old e-mail address but a red warning (error) box appeared: there is no "Zoltanasimon@hotmail.com" account. It ios case sensitive. But I always type zoltanasimon@hotmail.com and it switches to upper case.

Please help me.

Zoltan Simon, Red Deer

[email address removed for protection]  — [Unsigned comment added by 207.34.102.11 (talk • contribs).]

I suspect you got this message:

There is no user by the name "Zoltanasimon@hotmail.com". User names are case sensitive. Please check your spelling, or use the link below to create a new user account.

The first letter of a username is not case sensitive and automatically changes to upper case. All other letters than the first are case sensitive. There is no user account called Zoltanasimon@hotmail.com. It sounds like you entered an email address in the username field. That is wrong. The account User:Zoltan Simon was created 7 March 2007. If that is you and you know the password then log in with Zoltan Simon in the username field. If you forgot the password but still have access to the email address stored in the account (this address is only visible to somebody already logged in to the account), then write Zoltan Simon in the username field at Special:UserLogin and click the "E-mail new password" button. If you are unable to log in to an existing account then create a new account by clicking the "Create one" link at Special:UserLogin. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:37, 25 April 2010 (UTC)