Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 January 28

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January 28

good day

good day, im unregistered writter from czech republic. im try register under nick "kamizolník" but my ip adress it blocked, im dont know why. please, can everbody transfer this two files from en.wiki at commons? im need him to enprove some articles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JAN_SYROVÝ.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ernst-vom-Rath.jpg

many thanks --77.48.153.172 (talk) 11:31, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

URL won't display right

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 19:26, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

On the article Voice of Jihad I'm trying to cite http://www.jamestown.org/programs/gta/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=34838&tx_ttnews[backPid]=412&no_cache=1 , but the citation comes out garbled, I assume because there are brackets in the url. Is there a way to work around this? Thanks.Prezbo (talk) 23:17, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

You need to percent encode the brackets— see m:Help:URL#URLs in external links. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 23:51, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

The new "link inserting" dialog of the upcoming beta will do this when needed btw. Though i just noticed that it's broken for links that have a ] But i have reported this a few minutes ago to the developers. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 00:29, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks.Prezbo (talk) 04:15, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Created articles?

Resolved

Is there a quick-and-easy way to find out what articles one has created? Other than remembering to write them down. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:16, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Go to Special:Contributions/Baseball Bugs. Scroll all the way to the bottom and there's an "articles created" link. TNXMan 00:20, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Beautiful. Thank you! I had not noticed that item before, and I see editors specifically listing pages they've created. No need. :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:46, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Well there is some need; I keep a list of articles to which I actually contributed the initial content, as opposed to articles I created from WP:AFC requests, redirects, disambiguation pages, etc. Powers ^T 13:14, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Why is my name in "red fonts"?

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 19:26, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

My name is in red fonts? If I have done something wrong please state the exact problems. If it is something else please let me know when my name will return to blue. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stuntrek (talk • contribs)

Your username is blue [red] simply because you have not edited your userpage yet. Simply add something and turn that frown upside down (or your link blue, whichever). TNXMan 00:34, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, I had to correct an obvious mistake. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:39, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Gracias, mi amigo. TNXMan 00:41, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Thank you both : ) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stuntrek (talk • contribs) 07:57, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

spores

Resolved

 – Referred to Reference desk. --Nick—^Contact/_Contribs 16:56, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

can u get spores from a dead mushrooom thats been stored for a month? if so...how? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.14.125.132 (talk) 02:08, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer just about any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. Liquidluck✽talk 02:27, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Exporting/saving tables

Resolved

 – --Nick—^Contact/_Contribs 16:57, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

For the purpose of personal research, is there a way to save and export the tables found in Wikipedia to database programs like Microsoft Excel? Joey80 (talk) 03:05, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Highlight the contents of the table, copy, open a new Excel sheet and paste. If the formatting is not correct, then right click and paste special. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 03:09, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

It must be noted, however, that this does not seem to work with Firefox (I do not know about other browsers). When I need to do this, I launch Internet Explorer and open the page in that, then follow Ed's procedure. decltype (talk) 13:23, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Oh, no wonder. I'm using Firefox. Thanks a lot. Joey80 (talk) 00:57, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

Information Usage policy, Simple enquiry.

Resolved

 – --Nick—^Contact/_Contribs 16:58, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

What are the actual limitations on usage with the content on wikipedia.

Eg we have a Wiki that focuses on aquatic creature that ties on to our breeder forum. If we find an article on wikipedia that would be useful in our miniwiki If i put (Information obtained from wikipedia) on the page am i allowed to take quotes from wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.235.72 (talk) 14:42, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

If you read Wikipedia:Reusing Wikipedia content, that explains the licensing and conditions for reusing the contents of Wikipedia. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 14:45, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Marking a page when I have a question about its NPOV

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 19:25, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Greetings all! I am still pretty new to editing Wikipedia, and I'm wondering what is the appropriate course of action when you come across a page that is OBVIOUSLY not NPOV? I looked around the help area, but didn't find it. In particular, I am referring to the Children's Aid Society of Canada page. There has been very little discussion on the talk page in regards to it's NPOV, even after it was pointed out.

So, I am wondering if marking it for its lack of NPOV something I can just arbitrarily do given the lack of responses, do I take to the attention of an administrator or...? Thank you muchly! Dphilp75 (talk) 14:59, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Yes, you can mark it as having POV problems yoursef, by putting {{NPOV|date=January 2010}} at the top of the article, chances are that no one will get to it for a while though as there are long backlogs for maintenance problems. You can try to address the issues by editing it yourself. Since there doesn't seem to be much activity at the talkpage, if you have further problems, you can also take it to Wikipedia:Neutral point of view/Noticeboard. It's not really something that needs administrator action at this stage though. Regards, --BelovedFreak 15:20, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Very much appreciated! Dphilp75 (talk) 18:43, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Requested edit unanswered

A little over a week ago, I made a request on the Talk page for Domino's Pizza, seeking to replace the inadequate introductory paragraph (as the article is flagged) with a more coherent overview. However, no one has yet responded to the suggestion either way. Would someone here mind reviewing my suggestion and either making the change, offering guidance or approving me to replace the section? Domino's is a client of my employer and I've done some work adding citations and making simple corrections, but as this is a little more subjective I figure it best to ask for someone's input who has no relationship to the subject. Thanks, NMS Bill (talk) 16:00, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Non Receipt of Email Code

I recently created an account and received a message that my email code was being sent to me to allow access to email related features. After receiving nothing for some time I checked my Safe/Blocked list and saw that Wikimedia.org was on my blocked list. I moved it to "Safe" and need to receive another code. How do I accomplish this or generate another? StevieT657 (talk) 16:59, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Go to Special:ConfirmEmail, and hit "Mail a confirmation code".--Unionhawk ^{Talk E-mail} 17:10, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia access via Google links blocked....Possibly IP blocked

For months now, I've been unable to access any of the Wikipedia articles that come up in a Google search. This happens from all the computers in my household. However, if I log into anonymous.org, I can access the very same links without any trouble. This made me think that perhaps my ip address has been blocked. My research seems to indicate that ip address blocks happen under certain circumstances related to editing articles, but I've never edited ANY content on Wikipedia.

I found an article that indicated that if you are having trouble accessing Wikipedia, try Secure.Wikimedia and here I am. I just created this account today for the very first time. The problem occurs with both Firefox and IE. Any ideas what might be causing my problem clicking on wiki links that come up in Google?

Jrockbridge (talk) 17:29, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

The normal IP address blocks only disable editing; they have no effect on reading. I am told that if you clear your hosts cache you may be able to solve this issue. Stifle (talk) 19:25, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Others have reported that links from Google search results to Wikipedia pages don't work for them. Google attaches something to the links which apparently causes problems for some users but I don't know the details. It will probably work if you manually copy the url to the browser address bar instead of clicking the link. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:06, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

Minor Change to Main Page Possible?

Would it be possible, under the "Did you know..." and "On this day..." sections, to have (pictured) also bolded or in a different colour? I think it would be easier to locate when wanting information related to the posted picture. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 11vert11 (talk • contribs) 18:00, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

The best place to ask is the General discussion section at Talk:Main Page. – ukexpat (talk) 18:26, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

USER PAGE???

I want to write an article. Pursuant to instructions, I set up a 'user page' using my name, Thomas Bonte. I put in a password, and I got a 'user id' number. When I returned to the Wikipedia main page, my name was at the top in red. When I click on that, it says "Wikipedia does not have a user page with this exact name. In general, this page should be created and edited by User:Thomas Bonte. ...." I can't seem to get past this. HELP HELP THOMAS BONTE

---

Thomas Bonte 18:08, 28 January 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thomas Bonte (talk • contribs)

I have set up a user sandbox/subpage for you at User:Thomas Bonte/Sandbox and put a link to it on your user page. – ukexpat (talk) 18:18, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Does laurel have a meaning in british/american culture?

Some Gymnasien, that are old schools, have little anti-war memorials for their students killed in action; The inscription reads: The laurel to you out of deep thankfulness, may the broken sword be a holy admonition

I included this picture into an article. It is a little anti-war-memorial, which can be found at many German schools, which are old schools and send some of their boys to war. First of all I hope it is non-offensive. It praises the boys killed in action, but because of the context (broken sword) i think one can see this is anti-war. Second I was not sure if the inscription makes sense to you. "The laurel" has a meaning in Germany. A laurel wreath may be given to students who win a sports competition or something like that. Does it have the same meaning in your culture?-- Greatgreenwhale (talk) 18:38, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

As an american, yes, I think so (which isn't surprising, as it derives from ancient greece). But this isn't really a question for the help desk, and would probably be better posed on the talk page of the article in question. -- Bfigura ^(talk) 18:41, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I did not know this. Would a memorial like this be seen as offensive outside of Germany?-- Greatgreenwhale (talk) 18:48, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Those kind of non-Wikipedia related questions are best posed at the ref desk where they will be very happy to help you. --Saddhiyama (talk) 18:56, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Oh, I see. So what kind of questions am I supposed to ask here? Only technical questions?-- Greatgreenwhale (talk) 19:00, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

This Help Desk is for questions about using Wikipedia. We may refer questions to other places, such as The Village Pump if more specialised help is required. – ukexpat (talk) 19:23, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Different people get offended by different things. I imagine for almost anything you would choose, you could probably find someone outside of Germany who finds it offensive. In America, for example, some people find Tinky Winky offensive. In any case, see Wikipedia:List of controversial issues to (maybe) find out whether this type of photo has led to any dust-ups on Wikipedia in the past. --Teratornis (talk) 20:21, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Source Tag

How can I control the <source> tag in a template? Every time I try to pass some variables (e.g: lang={{{1}}}), I get errors. --Email4mobile (talk) 19:17, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Where is the template code? What code are you calling the template with, and what errors are you getting? Algebraist 19:19, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Image licence question

Resolved

 – Please discuss copyright issues at Wikipedia:Media copyright questions#Question about a synthesised map image. – ukexpat (talk) 20:46, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

I recently created this image File:StKittsNevis-Finland.png, a synthesised map showing southern Finland and the entire country of Saint Kitts and Nevis, to scale. I created this image from a screenshot of Google Maps and the existing Wikipedia image file:Sc-map.png. I do not intend to use this image on Wikipedia articles, only on project pages or talk pages. I assume the Wikipedia image of Saint Kitts and Nevis is freely usable, otherwise it wouldn't have been added to the article about the country in the first place, but what kind of licence applies to the screenshot of Google Maps? JIP | Talk 19:36, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Google Maps images are copyright, so screenshots from Google Maps cannot be used on Wikipedia, in any space (articles, project pages, or user pages). You are correct about the St Kitt's image on Commons, it is a US Government public domain image. Further questions about copyright etc are best asked at WP:MCQ. – ukexpat (talk) 19:47, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

See WP:EIW#Maps. If for example you use OpenStreetMap as your source of map images, any derivative works you create from them will also be free content. Google Maps images are not free, so don't use them as the basis for images you want to upload to Wikipedia or Commons. See Commons:Category:Maps of Finland for some free maps you might use. --Teratornis (talk) 20:28, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

OpenStreetMap would otherwise be a perfect source for this, but it's missing an on-screen scale, so I would still have to compare it to a Google Maps or similar image to get the Saint Kitts and Nevis map image to be in the same scale. JIP | Talk 20:42, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

You should be able to scale the maps identically by having them span the same number of degrees of latitude. That is, assuming the Earth is spherical, which should be close enough. --Teratornis (talk) 21:49, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

The "Export" tab on OpenStreetMap shows the latitude/longitude extents of your current map view. This should let you size two different maps to span the same number of degrees of latitude. If the two maps are at differing latitudes, they will have different distortions from the Equirectangular projection that most Web mapping sites use. Depending on how you want to compare two regions on the same map, you may have to study map projections a bit. See Wikipedia:WikiProject OpenStreetMap. --Teratornis (talk) 22:24, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

There is also a Generic Mapping Tools package that some Wikipedia mapmakers use. --Teratornis (talk) 01:50, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

about Fluther

I'm not going to argue the case specifically for Fluther, however I wonder if there should be a list of answer sites as Category:Knowledge markets likely doesn't cover all, such as Fluther, Blurtit, Dizzay, or for that matter, Wikipedia:Reference Desk.

Thanks.
Civic Cat (talk) 19:58, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Well...I can't say much on whether it could/should be created, but I notice that the article List of knowledge markets was deleted back in 2007 with the reason of WP:NOT. You could always try recreating the list, providing reliable sources, etc, etc. I recommend using the article wizard if you do so; it will guide you step by step and give the article less of a chance of being deleted (if all the steps are followed). Alternately, you could ask any administrator if the deleted article had any useful information, and if so they could move it into your userspace for you to improve, reference, and then move back into article space. Hope this helps, Ks0stm ^(T•C•G) 20:17, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

I'll give it a read. Thanks.
:-D
Civic Cat (talk) 20:21, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Read Wikipedia:Lists for guidelines about what constitutes a deletion-resistant list on Wikipedia. The safest approach is to make a list containing links to existing articles on Wikipedia. If we had an article about Fluther, or if we could have one, then you would have an argument for including it on a list. You should not make a list of things which themselves are not notable enough to have individual Wikipedia articles. In general, we make lists after we make the articles they list. If you try to make the list before the articles, it will be full of red links and look like blood in the water to our friendly deletionists. See also Wikipedia:Categories, lists, and navigation templates and other pages linked under WP:EIW#List. Study the Featured lists to see the right way to make lists. --Teratornis (talk) 20:40, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

How do I make an article appear on Google Maps?

Hi,

I just created the article Graham Court, a historic apartment building in Harlem. I am wondering, how do I cause this article to appear in a Google Maps search? (it doesn't yet appear.) As you can see, I already put the proper coordinates into the infobox. Thanks. Andrew Gradman ^talk/_WP:Hornbook 20:34, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

I suspect it's just a matter of time for the Google bots to index the article. - that can take several days. – ukexpat (talk) 20:43, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

More information is in the links under WP:EIW#Geo and WP:EIW#Map. --Teratornis (talk) 20:45, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

For example About the Google Earth Geographic Web Layer. --Teratornis (talk) 20:47, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Oldids

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 22:48, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

I was scanning the backlog, and I saw the category "GA's without an oldid". What is an oldid? And how do I add it to a Good Article?

Buggie111 (talk) 22:01, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

An oldid is a number identifying a specific version of a page. For example, the version of the help desk immediately after you posted this has an oldid of 340607114, as can be seen in the url (which I got from the history page) http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Help_desk&oldid=340607114. In the {{GA}} template, the oldid parameter is used to indicate the exact version of the article that the reviewer deemed to be a good article. Algebraist 22:33, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I was wondering.

Buggie111 (talk) 22:43, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Help using Opera browser

I have recently changed something on Opera and know can't access the short cut keys (Shift-Esc-E etc). Any idea how I get them back?Waacstats (talk) 22:57, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

It might be a browser issue, but it is also possible that you checked the "disable accesskeys" gadget in your Wikipedia Preferences. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 00:29, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

It isn't the gadget because it still works when I log in on another computer. Waacstats (talk) 18:58, 29 January 2010 (UTC)