Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 January 31

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January 31

Question about database information.

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 17:53, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

I was wondering if it is at all possible to view certain information in database list form? Such as looking at essentially all music you have on wikipedia in one, complete list (all with the links of course, not simply the names of the bands or movies or whatever it may be) according to genre? Is that at all possible?

So instead of typing in a bands (or movies) name, and then according to that genre and relating ones, you find other bands through links on each page, you have the above which seems easier, because through the former what your doing is going from link to link, which is a lot more inconvenient. Like if i type in "Pink Floyd" and then it leads me to other links about pioneering well-known or slightly more obscure (but signed) Psychedelic bands for example.

Although it works, surely being able to just view basically all music you have logged on wikipedia generally, (albeit genre separated) is much easier, so then you know exactly how many articles on music outfits and solo people you have. Then you can pick and choose the ones that capture your interest accordingly.

So basically, my question is, is this possible or not?

MorbidDevilAngel (talk) 23:48, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Somewhat. There is, for example, a page called Category:Musical groups that lists all Wikipedia articles tagged as being in that category. Calvin 1998 ^(t·c) 00:18, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Categories, lists, and navigation templates for an overview of navigation methods on Wikipedia. You may be asking for a Semantic wiki, though, which can generate lists of articles from queries. Wikipedia does not have those features yet. See Wikipedia:Semantic Wikipedia. Also see the Editor's index to Wikipedia, which is an analytical index of Wikipedia's internal help pages. Anyone is free to write similar index pages for various content topics, but I have not seen a content index page on Wikipedia with as many features as the Editor's index. Instead we have some plainer examples such as Index of energy articles. Our content index pages are usually just alphabetic lists of article titles, which may not lead to the most logical groupings of articles. If you have ideas for what would make a good index, you can start a page like User:MorbidDevilAngel/Sandbox and experiment. That's the great thing about Wikipedia - if you have a good idea that could improve the encyclopedia, you are free to demonstrate it to other people, and if you convince them, you can make your mark. --Teratornis (talk) 01:43, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Thank you, that seems good enough for me at the moment, i actually have come across the category pages before, but i did forget they actually existed! However i may well consider that suggestion about what might make a good index, i'll have a think about it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by MorbidDevilAngel (talk • contribs) 17:11, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Related articles

How do I remove the Related articles gadget on the left of my Firefox browser? It doesn't appear on IE though. Arteyu ? _{Blame it on me !} 01:20, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

are you using any gadgets? or special additions like custom Js or CSS? andyzweb (talk) 01:58, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Yes. Twinkle, friendly, googletrans, but I don't think they are related. Arteyu ? _{Blame it on me !} 02:52, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

First, purge Firefox's cache. If that doesn't work, try disabling the gadgets you mention and see if one of them gets rid of the panel. Then, you can contact the gadget's author(s) to find out if it's possible to install the gadget without that particular feature. Friendly, in particular, has a history of adding features (such as a UTC clock) without prior notice that don't really have to do with the main purpose of the gadget. Xenon54 / talk / 03:48, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Montage

How do you make a montage on Wikipedia like New York City or Washington DC? Nations United (talk) 01:43, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

The infobox at New York City displays File:NYC Montage 8.jpg. The infobox at Washington, D.C. displays File:DCmontage3.jpg. The montages were created outside Wikipedia with some image software (I don't know which but probably whatever the users happen to have installed on their computers) and then uploaded to Wikimedia Commons as single images. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:10, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Random redirect

Hi this is more of a technical question than anything else. I am trying to make a page that is a random redirect to any one of a number of templates so as I am spreading wikilove using templates like {{subst:Cheezburgr}} and {{subst:Kitten}} I could just use {{subst:User:Andyzweb/wikilove}} and that would randomly choose any one of a random number of templates to put on that user's talkpage. sorry if my question is hard to understand. andyzweb (talk) 01:57, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

A quick answer would be to checkout WP:RAN but I'm not sure that is what you're looking for. Tiggerjay (talk) 05:11, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Merge Yourself

I just wanted to ask this to be safe. If two articles have been proposed to be merged for over three months and most agree with a merger, but no admin has done it, is it okay to merge them yourself? --Shadow (talk) 03:43, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Yes of course, anyone can do a merge, you don't have to be an admin. -- œ^™ 04:18, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Change Listing Name

I just published an article that is referenced under the search words "UI Veterans Writers Workshop", and that was in error. How can I correct the search title to "Midwest Veterans Writers Workshop" ? Nothing in the FAQs seems to give me a clue. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Libris Fidelis (talk • contribs) 04:39, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

I did the move to the page per your request, since it was a mistake, however it appears the page has been nominated for a speedy removal from wikipedia per CSG G11. Tiggerjay (talk) 05:08, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Living Person Bio (author) editorial help

Resolved

 – Mysdaao ^talk 13:20, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Seeking Living Persons Bio posting page(s) location to solicit experienced editor help/mentor in (author) article content. Cannot find this area.Boolalah (talk) 05:38, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

I think you're looking for Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons/Noticeboard. --Mysdaao ^talk 05:59, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. Boolalah (talk) 17:41, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

You're welcome! --Mysdaao ^talk 13:20, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Move Tab missing on a few articles, though present on most....

Hello...I was just curious why most articles on Wikipedia that I encounter DO HAVE "Move" tabs.....whereas a few do not. I was thinking that it probably has to do with the nature of the titles and articles that determines that. Like the article title "Jew", for example, or "Christian" DO NOT have "Move" tabs on the top. Whereas the article title "Congress" DOES have a Move tab. And so does "Church" and most other things I checked. I was just wondering, though, why a few articles simply do not. And it's NOT because of any "4 day" thing in my case, as that does not apply. Also, because as I said, most articles I come across DO have the Move tab on top. Only some don't. Was curious as to why. (I did a search in Help, a few times, looking for this specific question and answer, and I could not find it anywhere, but only the stuff about "4 days" for new users, which, as I said, does not apply in my case). Anwyay, please let me know.....thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sweetpoet (talk • contribs) 06:42, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

• Administrators can protect specific pages through page protection and among the specific protection options, they can restrict who can move a page. This is typically done to prevent vandalism. Tiggerjay (talk) 07:20, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

• Some articles are protected from moving. In these cases only admins can move them. -- œ^™ 07:23, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Readiness for Requesting Adminship

Hi, I was hoping if anyone could tell me if it would be worth me applying for adminship. My stats can be seen here, here and here. If possible could someone give me an appropriate date and how I need to improve based on the stats I have provided. Thanks for any help you can give. Paul2387 12:38, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

738 edits is not, and has never been enough. The average edit count of confirmed candidates has risen significantly to just under 20,000. While competency is not just based on edit count, certainly it is a measure of experience that cannot be equaled by answering questions. Obviously this can fluctuate; I was nominated a few years ago by the venerable Wizardman with about 3,500 edits, and almost passed, which was not what I was expecting at all.

For right now I would suggest (a) continuing to edit articles, (b) cut down on the edits to userspace (right now they're 21% of your total, get it under 10%), (c) join a WikiProject in a topic that interests you, or (d) take a look at the Community portal to see how else you can help with administrivia, such as cleanup and wikification. Remember above all that adminship is not a trophy, nor does it give you elevated influence in discussions, nor should it be your "ultimate goal." It simply means the community has decided you can be trusted with access to a few extra tools. Xenon54 / talk / 14:10, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

It also seems to help if you have been a major contributor to some articles which became featured. Getting an article all the way to featured status is a severe test of Wikipedia editing skill, and failure to have done this a few times may increase scrutiny on the rest of your contribution record. --Teratornis (talk) 23:03, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Following on to Xenon's comment, your userpage seems to indicate that view adminship as a sort of trophy/prize. That attitude alone (or even the perception of that attitude) may garner you opposition. A good idea is to wait for someone to suggest that you stand for adminship. TNXMan 23:09, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

It might also be helpful if you listened to advice which you had previously been given! Looking at your editor reviews (January 2010 and September 2009), on both occasions you were advised to wait. Looking at your RfAs (14 July 2009, 26 November 2009, 14 December 2009 and 31 December 2009), they all say the same thing: you aren't ready. Read through them all, see what they said. You seem too keen to be an admin, without really showing that you need the tools. As Dweller said on your last RfA Please stop chasing adminship, settle in and become an established editor (ie by editing, not by existing) before requesting the tools. As Tnxman says above, and as mentioned in ERs and RfAs, you seem to be chasing adminship as some kind of trophy or "reward" - it's not, it just gives you a few more tools to help maintain Wikipedia - and some people would say that you don't get more respect or kudos for being an admin, but less! -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 09:52, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

I suggest editing as a normal user until at least five or preferably ten other editors have offered to nominate you, without you prompting them. --Teratornis (talk) 23:58, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Cluebot III

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 16:09, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Hello Helpdesk, I was just wondering if somebody could please check over my Cluebot III archival setup on my talk page. I've set it up according to the instructions, but I haven't had any action there yet. Thanks! JulieSpaulding 14:01, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

It looks all right to me. Often archive bots only run once or twice a day, meaning even if your deadline's passed you may not see any archiving for a little while longer. Xenon54 / talk / 14:13, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. JulieSpaulding 14:49, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

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)

You can request an account yourself at WP:Request an account. JulieSpaulding 14:50, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

re-direct from my name search !!

Hello my name is John Hudgens I live and work in Little Rock, Arkansas. Some time ago a profile of me and my work as the new Ernest P. Worrel was featured on Wikapedia... now i notice that if i search for John Hudgens on Wikapedia, i am re-directed to information about John E. Hudgens... How can someone find any John Hudgens, without being re-directed to John E. Hudgens information. can someone help ? thanks John —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.247.244.255 (talk) 14:26, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Hello, according to the page history of John Hudgens (located here), no such profile existed at that page. However, your name is mentioned at Ernest P. Worrell#Character history. JulieSpaulding 14:53, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Deleted edits

What is a deleted edit? Us441 (talk) 14:47, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

A deleted edit is an edit to a page that has now been deleted. Deleted edits are only viewable by administrators. Xenon54 / talk / 14:51, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Some deleted edits remain visible on Deletionpedia. For example, here are some of mine. I have a lot more deleted edits than that, though. Deletionpedia only shows a small fraction of Wikipedia's deleted articles and pages. --Teratornis (talk) 23:57, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

As Teratornis says, only a small amount of deleted edits are on Deletionpedia. For example, none of my 910 deleted edits are shown there. The latest figures show that there are about 63,114 pages on it. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 09:57, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Subpages

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 16:48, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Is there a way to see a listing of all the subpages from a given page? (specifically, my user page, since I've forgotten what pages I've actually made!) Smaug123 (talk) 15:50, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Special:PrefixIndex/User:Smaug123 – ukexpat (talk) 16:07, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

• Wonderful, thanks! Smaug123 (talk) 16:38, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

You can also find that link at the bottom of your contributions page Special:Contributions/Smaug123. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:38, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

You can also put {{List subpages}} on your user page. --Teratornis (talk) 20:05, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

deleted resume

How do I recover a deleted resume on my computer? I have windows xp---- —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stublina (talk • contribs) 15:58, 31 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. – ukexpat (talk) 16:05, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

What is Wikipedia

I do not find the word in the dictionary. There are so many articles and pages about the word that I can not go over them all and get a reasonable understanding about what it is. I am 85 years old and would like to know what it is about before I die. I am seriouse about this. My name is Tabor —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.195.110.164 (talk) 16:47, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Try Wiki, Wikipedia, Wiki and Wikipedia. – ukexpat (talk) 16:50, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Creating bios

How do I create a short bio for this category - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_humorists?

The Erma Bombeck Writer's Workshop (University of Dayton) has many published humorists and syndicated columnists that are not listed. We are meeting in April and I would like them to know how to get a short bio here. Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rosevalenta (talk • contribs) 17:12, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

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

Thank you.

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 with which all articles should comply. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite 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. You might also look at 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. An Article Wizard is also available to walk you through creating an article. – ukexpat (talk) 18:00, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Image Citation

Can image(illustrations) be the citation of the article?

If I can, what type of image has to be? (Such as Free Image, Non-Free Image)

Please tell me yes or no.

I used American English.--PowerY (talk) 17:56, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Depends what you want to verify by reference to the image. If it's just the existence of the image itself then maybe. If it's to verify that the image is of what it purports to be of, then probably not, as images (particularly digital ones) can be manipulated. – ukexpat (talk) 20:16, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Few questions on Wikipedia admit simple yes or no answers, and Wikipedia constantly evolves, so almost everything other than the Founding principles is potentially subject to future revision. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia of almost everything, and everything varies a lot, so there may be many cases to consider for a seemingly simple question such as what constitutes a reliable source. See the links to lots of discussion under WP:EIW#Source. Wikipedia's citation templates give a rough guide to the types of things which we have considered reliable sources so far. There is no citation template specifically for citing images in general, although there are some related templates: {{Cite video}}, {{Cite map}}, and {{Cite comic}}. I would guess the free content status of an image would have no effect on its suitability as a source, since we routinely cite copyrighted published works as sources. Copyright status applies primarily to material we copy directly to Wikipedia, not sources we cite (although we are not supposed to link to material which violates copyright, wherever it happens to be). --Teratornis (talk) 23:52, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

div box does not work

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 02:27, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

I have borrowed some mark up for a div box notice on my user talk and, big surprise, it doesn't display as I had hoped. If someone could check this out and direct me to the mistake I would appreciate the help. Feel free to repair the thing, but I'm not expecting anyone to do any heavy lifting. Thanks in advance. Tiderolls 18:13, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Seems to be some problem with displaying the output of {{Talkback}}. My change may not be exactly what you wanted, but will it suffice? Deor (talk) 20:51, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Indeed. Thanks for taking the time to help. See ya 'round Tiderolls 22:33, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Advertising

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 22:46, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Is this user page too much like WP:ADVERTISING? Art LaPella (talk) 18:28, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Yes, and it has been tagged for speedy deletion as such. – ukexpat (talk) 20:00, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

And the user name blocked as a spamname. – ukexpat (talk) 20:01, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

difficulty editing a new article

I created a new article,List of life-threatening diseases,just very recently this afternoon.When i hit the save changes button and saw the article,i discovered that only the section on life threatening infectious diseases had been saved. Refreshing the page did not help,and when I tried to add a reflist to the bottom of the page it failed.What is this and what should I do? Immunize (talk) 18:59, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

I've taken a stab at fixing some mark up. See if the page displays as you intended. Regards Tiderolls 19:06, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Thank you.The page is displaying exactly as i desired.The same problem has happened to me many other times on various pages in the past.How do I prevent it from happening again? Immunize (talk) 19:13, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

You're welcome. The link I left on your user talk may help. Regards Tiderolls 19:15, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Please see my question on the article's talk page. Lists are all well and good, but the inclusion criteria for this list are non-existent. – ukexpat (talk) 20:10, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Jessica Alba archives

Resolved

 – Liquidluck✽talk 07:55, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Can someone clean up the archives at Talk:Jessica Alba. There are two sets of archives on the page and I do not understand the syntax of the templates well enough to put the two together.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 19:58, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

I'll take a stab at it. Liquidluck✽talk 20:01, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Still curious as to why there are both an archive box and an archive header after all your efforts.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 07:37, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

I've replied at the talk page and added the article to my watchlist; let's continue discussions there. Liquidluck✽talk 07:55, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Union numbering system for local chapters

My question:

What do the numbers in a Union Local represent; i.e., I.A.M. Local "1584"? What does the number 1584 stand for? Is it a location, chapter or something else? I need this answer for a school I attending.

Thank you 76.103.236.210 (talk) 20:16, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Try asking at the Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous. -- œ^™ 20:46, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

How do I add old AfD discussions to a new AfD nomination?

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 02:26, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

For example, this archived discussion has old AfD nominations listed in an infobox. Is this generated automatically, or do I list the old debates in a template (and if so, which template), or what? Yappy2bhere (talk) 21:03, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Technically, the code is this:

<div class="infobox" style="width:50%">AfDs for this article:<ul class="listify">{{Special:Prefixindex/Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/NAMEOFARTICLE}}</ul></div>

and NAMEOFARTICLE is replaced with the article name. However, I think it does it automatically if there are previous AfDs. TNXMan 22:48, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

When the article, Rehab (Young Buck album), was deleted the last four times it used a slightly different stem name (The Rehab, The Rehab (Young Buck album), e.g.). Will that make a difference? Yappy2bhere (talk) 23:03, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

I believe so. The code only looks for identically named AfDs. If the article was deleted as a result of an AfD under a slightly different title, I would think the best course would be to mention the previous discussions in your nomination/!vote. Alos, articles previously deleted by an AfD and are substantially identical to the previous version are eligible for speedy deletion under criteria G4. TNXMan 23:06, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

I suspect from the remarks in the debates that it's the same thin article, and therefore eligible for speedy, but I've never seen the deleted pages so I don't really have standing to make the claim. Yappy2bhere (talk) 23:14, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

I've deleted two of the pages as G4. The other was a redirect to the artist's page. Cheers! TNXMan 23:28, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Thank you very much! That saved me more than a bit of work. Yappy2bhere (talk) 23:30, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

This question seems to come up frequently, especially if there is an unusual article title or debate that breaks the {{afd2}} template. So, I put a template together to handle this: {{oldafdlist}}. Best, UltraExactZZ ^Said ~ Did 18:11, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Where ask question about copyright?

Where would be best place for asking a question about who owns the copyright for an image created as work for hire? RJFJR (talk) 21:28, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Media copyright questions —Akrabbim^talk 21:42, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Also read the Work for hire article for general background. --Teratornis (talk) 23:54, 31 January 2010 (UTC)