Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 August 6

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August 6

Can a block be cleaned from your record?

Hi, I was unfairly blocked without warning for no rationale reason, the block was quickly lifted but the blemish will still remain on my record, is there anyway to get this expunged? --Phoon (talk) 00:01, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, as far as I know, your block record is permanent. TNXMan 00:07, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. --Phoon (talk) 02:38, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Please do not forumshop. Your block was not for "no reason". You made several false accusations of administrator misconduct; you should profusely thank whichever deity you believe in that you were unblocked at all. Continuing to write disruptive posts of this nature, assuming that everyone is out to get you, and making personal attacks will only reduce your chances of being around to edit in the weeks to come. Despite what you seem to think, you are not being singled out and this is far from what happens every time you have a bone to pick with an administrator. You took a rather minor issue (a correctly denied re-request of rollback, which, I should add, you were using inappropriately in the first place) and turned it into a much bigger one. You cannot blame anyone else. You have essentially brought this whole mess upon yourself, and you are the only one who can reverse it at this point, by choosing to quit your disruptive editing. I suggest you start now. Xenon54 (talk) 01:59, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Your tirade is sadly irrelevant. --Phoon (talk) 02:38, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

The best way to "expunge" it is to put as much distance (i.e. time) between the present day and the day of the block. One block is no big deal. Learn from the experience, and do better in the future. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:08, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the advice! --Phoon (talk) 02:38, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Review this code change, please

Per a request at Template talk:Nld, I've made this edit — I just copied the code from the template talk page to the template. Does this work properly? It looks fine to me, but I'm not entirely sure. Nyttend (talk) 01:41, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Is there a reason the null parameter is being used? If I remember correctly it hasn't been used since parser functions became part of the MediaWiki functionality, and is deprecated. For example, typing {{nld|=foobar}} I could break the template output. Also, you don't need the subst parameter of {{substchecktop}}, unless the value is nosubst. It would be better to have simply {{substchecktop|Nld}}. I don't see why {{substchecktop}} would need to be substituted here. Intelligentsium 02:15, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

It's a dummy parameter to prevent premature substitution as mentioned here. This could be changed if necessary. Substituting {{substchecktop}} and {{substcheckbottom}} removes these check code templates on substitution. If they weren't, then they would be transluded on each substitution of {{nld}}. Also, changing {{{|safesubst:}}} to {{{=|safesubst:}}} should fix the problem mentioned above. Thanks. Set Sail For The Seven Seas 187° 52' 30" NET 12:31, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for clarifying. I understand now why it is necessary to use the dummy parameter in this case. Intelligentsium 02:11, 7 August 2010 (UTC)

Conflict of Interest

Dear Help Desk, I just received 1-2 messages on my Wiki talk page that state my article on Harris Levey has been flagged for Conflict of Interest. Please help. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jonathanlevey

Frankly, I have no idea who flagged this article and "why" they flagged it (which specific sentences, text for information are they in disagreement with? Once I know this I can make real efforts to fix it.

I am willing to work harder to make it more objective and I am building in more verifications, but with my full time work schedule this will take time (weeks, months). Please help in any way you can. I am concerned that the article will be removed and I will have to start from scratch again. Can yo help me to put a hold on it and request advise. I will send the same message to Old English and PianoTech since they helped me to try and write an article that was free of COI and hopefully they can help some more. asking for his help as well. Anything you can modify, advise, etc., to help me save this article will be greatly appreciated. Waiting to hear from you. Jonathan Levey 02:37, 6 August 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jonathanlevey (talk • contribs)

As was mentioned on your talk page I think the potential conflict of interest is because at least one editor believes that you are the son of the person whose article you are editing. While you may have first hand knowledge of the subject, the concern would be that it would be very hard for any family member to write about another from a NPOV.  7  02:46, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Selling stuff

hi i want to sell my wedding dress n some items how do i do that —Preceding unsigned comment added by Quenee (talk • contribs) 03:49, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Craig's List? --Jayron32 04:37, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over three million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is a help desk for asking questions related to using the encyclopedia. Thus, we have no inside track on the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:14, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

how to update old logos and pictures

Hi! is it possible to replace old logos in wikipedia. Also is it possible to delete old pictures? If so, how? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ulopie (talk • contribs) 06:26, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Your account is not autoconfirmed yet so you cannot upload images to the English Wikipedia. If the license allows it then you can upload to Wikimedia Commons right away, but logos usually don't allow it. Only administrators can delete image files but others can remove an image from a given page. What specifically do you want to do to which page and why? I see you commented out [1] three images at Airphil Express but you gave no explanation and it was reverted. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:13, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

I commented those three images because Airphil Express no longer uses that kind of aircraft. They are now currently using Airbus A320's and Bombardiers and the logo i commented is also not updated. They have a new logo right now. Just like the one in the upper right.I apologize if my approach of updating Airphil Express' page inappropriately.Anyway is there a way I can update the images? If so, please tell me how to do it properly.thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ulopie (talk • contribs) 14:07, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

All the images were in the history section where they belonged. The old logo had the caption "The old Air Philippines logo". However, the fair use rationale seemed invalid for displaying a former logo there so I have removed it.[2] The aircraft images seem appropriate to me. They are clearly marked Air Philippines, the kind is mentioned in the section, and the images are in the public domain. If you can replace them with better images with a suitable license then that may be OK, but the article seems better to me with the old aircraft images than no images. What is the license of the images you want to add? If you don't know the license then where did you get the images? PrimeHunter (talk) 15:31, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

How do I get license of the images I wanted to add? I have images of their A320 aircraft, I got them during their Inaugural flight last March.

Military Awards and Decorations

I need to edit military awards and decorations to include the pictures of the cited awards on my biography. How do I do this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Soldierforlife (talk • contribs) 06:40, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

We encourage you to be bold and do it yourself; however, as you seem to have a conflict of interest, you might want to discuss it with some other editors and find reliable sources to support your claim before doing anything. Kayau Voting IS evil 06:49, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Is the problem about how to edit the content of Burwell B. Bell III#Awards and decorations? The source when you click edit can look complicated. If you say what you want to add then maybe we can help. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:05, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

replace outdated images

i wonder how i can replace outdated images uploaded by someone else. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lindagengyan (talk • contribs) 07:24, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Images for a starter. Your account must be autoconfirmed to upload images at the English Wikipedia. Note there are license requirements for images. Many images don't satisfy them and cannot be used in Wikipedia. Do you have a more specific question about an image? PrimeHunter (talk) 10:57, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Cannot confirm email from 'my preferences'.

I cannot get my email address confirmed. From my preferences, I enter my email, save, and then confirm. Confirm leads to an error message: We could not send your confirmation e-mail. Please check the address for invalid characters and try again.

I have tried different browsers, different ISPs. No joy.

Can anyone suggest a solution? Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ian@perth (talk • contribs) 14:17, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

We discourage people from posting actual email address, but when I see a user name like yours, I wonder if you created an email address like Ianperthhotmail.com, or something similar. I can imagine that a verification might choke on the multiple , but this is just a guess.)--SPhilbrickT 14:35, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

I just tested two addresses and it works for me. Is it the address in [3]? Can I test it by temporarily setting it as my email address in preferences? This may result in a mail being sent to you. Just ignore it. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:00, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

This is an admin account. I would use User:PrimeHunter2 for the test. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:03, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Copyright

I've just created an article and it's been flagged for copyright infringement. It's a mathematics article, and so primarily consists of commonly accepted definitions. I have cited all of my references and have not claimed authorship of any of the material. The webpage I used for most of the information is itself based on the content of two academic papers. (Both of which I have cited in the article). What should I do? — Fly by Night (talk) 16:28, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

The page I used says that all rights are reserved. That one may not copy or reproduce the content. But how does that work? If a webpage contains the defintion "An integer n is called even if it is dividable by 2", then does that mean that no-one may use that defintion again? — Fly by Night (talk) 16:34, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

All rights reserved means exactly what it means. You may not copy or reproduce content without the copyright holder's consent. Since you have apparently copied a copyrighted work without the consent of the copyright holder, claiming it under a free license, Poincaré complex is in essence, a textbook example of copyright infringement. -FASTILY ^(TALK) 17:08, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

How so? How does one copyright a definition? Everything was referenced meticulously. Aren't we allowed to reproduce anything that has ever appeared in print before? — Fly by Night (talk) 17:22, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Incorrect reversion

I have just received notice that an edit of mine was reverted. My edit put a British spelling onto a couple of British related articles that were mostly using the US spelling ("Mosquitos" rather than "Mosquitoes", referring to the British aircraft used in British air raids) - and someone had the chutzpah not only to revert it regardless but to cite that very principle of respecting appropriate usage to justify reverting to an inappropriate usage! How do we put this right and make it stick? P.M.Lawrence. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.194.50.1 (talk) 16:38, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

I don't think it was actually reverted, was it? And I think mosquitoes is preferred in the US too. Looks like a bit of a drive-by templating, to be honest. Suggest you ignore it. Also suggest you consider registering an account; editing as an "anonymous" IP address can carry a bit of a stigma for some editors here. --AndrewHowse (talk) 17:09, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Fixing broken link

On the page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Lake_St._Marys_State_Park#External_links, the article's reference section has a broken link. I'm not sure how to edit this section because the list of references does not show up when I click on "edit."

The broken link is link #6: ^ "The Beaver Creek and Grand Lake St. Marys (Wabash) Watershed TMDL". Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Division of Surface Water, Total Maximum Daily Load Program. Retrieved on 2009-06-08.

I work at Ohio EPA and our server address changed last year. The correct link should be: http://www.epa.ohio.gov/dsw/tmdl/BeaverCreekWabashTMDL.aspx

I have changed this link and added another one under the "External Links" section. Please let me know how to change the link in the reference section, or feel free to go ahead and correct it. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 156.63.195.2 (talk) 17:04, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

The reference itself is in the text next to the content that the reference is a source for. I have fixed the link. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. --Mysdaao ^talk 17:20, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

page i created

how long will a page i created that has been deleted show up in wiki and on search engines?

thank you for your timeTguinanjr (talk) 17:39, 6 August 2010 (UTC)tom

I'm not quite sure what your asking here. Anything that has been deleted will not show up anywhere, because it has been deleted.. ? - Happysailor ^(Talk) 17:41, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

That's not quite true Happysailor. Immediately after deletion, it will still show up in a Google search. It will show up until Google re-indexes the page, which is often less than a day, but might be a day or two, and even then, the cache will contain it. I looked for a recently deleted page earlier this week, and was able to view it. I don't know how long the cache is maintained.--SPhilbrickT 17:51, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

ok, i stand corrected :) - I know for content though, google seems to update within an hour. Happysailor ^(Talk) 18:09, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Friday Night Cranks

Friday Night Cranks is an Internet web show created in 2007 by three hosts, Jared McMullin, Kristin Rose,and Joe The Camera Guy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.181.31.113 (talk) 18:46, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

It sounds like you are trying to create an article. I've included some standard advice for you below this message.

A Wizard is available to walk you through these steps. See the Article Wizard.

Thank you.

You will need to first register an account, which has many benefits, including the ability to create articles. Once you have registered, 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 Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. An Article Wizard is available to walk you through creating an article, but you will need to create an account to use it. if you don't wish to do so, you can submit a proposal for an article at Articles for Creation. TNXMan 18:48, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Vaguely fammilar with this web show on youtube, please have a read of Wikipedia:Notability_(web) prior to starting the article for the main space. Ottawa4ever (talk) 19:27, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Agree with Ottawa, the podcast doesn't have as many listeners as others. I could understand if it was in the top 10, even the top 20, but it isn't, so it may not be notable enough. If you would still like to make the article, go right ahead.  A p3rson ‽ 20:09, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Why can't I edit certain pages only?

I have been editing for years, including two articles in the past few days. I write appropriate facts, and cite where I can. I am trying to edit the article on the country Vietnam, but there are no edit buttons. I noticed this is now true of most "big topic" articles. Is there some reason? I have a very important addition to make, and a fact is wrong in the current article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alexandermoir (talk • contribs) 20:01, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Vietnam is semi-protected due to vandalism. This level of protection means that only autoconfirmed users (accounts at least four days old with ten or more edits) may edit the page. Since your account was created today, you will need to wait a few days and make at least ten edits. Goodvac (talk) 20:10, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Meantime, you can add {{editsemiprotected}} and your suggested changes on the talk page. Another editor can then review your suggestion and consider including it. --AndrewHowse (talk) 20:17, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

(e/c)First, when looking at your contributions, this was your only edit. Second, Vietnam is semi-protected (see the protection policy). If you would like to make an edit to Vietnam, you must achieve (auto/)confirmed status, after 4 days or 10 edits (see the user access levels page). Until then, no editing Vietnam. Also, on some of the "big ticket" articles, they could be protected (shown by a small lock in the top-right in different colors, looks like , each color means something else. The other possible reason is the trial of the "Pending Changes" policy, meaning only certain edits will show up with out review (see Pending Changes). A p3rson ‽ 20:23, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for the reply. I actually created the account today, to see if that would give me more permissions. I have been editing without an account for many years under the name alexmoir (wrote the article on half shirts) and anonymously. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alexandermoir (talk • contribs) 20:48, 7 August 2010 (UTC)

Cant seem to remove [edit] tag from harp page

Hi, I just noticed an [edit] [edit] [edit] marker on the Origin of the harp in Europe page and cant seem to remove it from the page. Can anyone help remove them.Mcbheighach (talk) 21:35, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Those tags are for editing the section. Normally, they would be beside the section name, but the images push them over. Goodvac (talk) 21:47, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

See WP:BUNCH. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:43, 6 August 2010 (UTC)