Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 May 19

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May 19

Italian descent, sports people

What happened to Lou Piniella? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.57.21.62 (talk) 00:00, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Entering Lou Piniella in the search box at the top leads to Lou Piniella. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:07, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

By the way, Lou Piniella#Early life says: "His Asturian grandparents immigrated to Florida from Asturias, Spain." PrimeHunter (talk) 00:19, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

subst

What exactly is {{subst:}} ?

For a in-depth description, you can see this page. Basically, a subst copies a template verbatim to a page, while leaving it out will cause a template to load a new version each time. TNXMan 01:11, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

The archive term "threads"

What does the term "threads" as in "Threads older than 120 days are archived by MiszaBot I." mean? Is it a sequence of indented paragraphs, a section , or what? RHB100 (talk) 02:43, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Thread means a section with a heading beginning with two equals signs (as in == The archive term "threads" == for this one). Older than 120 days means that the most recent timestamp out of all posts in that section indicates a posting date of more than 120 days ago. PleaseStand ^(talk) 02:45, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

In other words, the last post was more than 120 days ago. PleaseStand ^(talk) 02:48, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I added "thread" to the Wikipedia Glossary. -- œ^™ 11:00, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

How to find a person or way (for a dummy) to have offline copy of Wikipedia- even if a year old

Hello,

I would like to use Wikipedia Offline, secure in lead vault, keep copies as I believe wisdom can be lost to baloney and less crystal more "modern" verbiage.

 I dont mind trying to pay for it or make money from it, for honorable purpose.

Everyone is so polite about not selling Wiki (thats respectable!) nobody is noting that money motivates, moves, product- information.

Wiki is indeed so perfect for offline copies for so many reason it boggles the mind.

All are profitable for all people.

If I find God is returning, I would laser Wiki (iPod) and bible to him on pencil laser.

If the end of the world comes nuclear or asteroid, I am gonna toss wiki up into air or space

If someone lies about what they are or what they did, and put it THEMSELVES in Wiki, I will be there demonstrating how well they lied except Wiki has an OFFLINE COPY each X months (dont announce when, EVER)

You get the point: I cannot make a offline copy of Wikipedia, it needs making and distributing.

Please direct, or tell me how much you personally want cash, for a copy of Wikipedia, from the last year or so is perfect, not needing up to date.

Note: the legal value to honest people in the future of you making offline wiki copies cannot be understated, the internet can change in milliseconds after leaving page- not an OFFLINE wikipedia.

Not a BURNT copy- Wikipedia is in a way the new "DNA" as the time it was changed, printed, what it represented, can be truth-tested (computer search over time instead of just data).

Simple enough, how much?

Or can you tell me baby steps how to do myself?

<email redacted> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.220.116.95 (talk) 02:59, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Please do not include contact details in your questions. We are unable to provide answers by any off-wiki medium and this page is highly visible across the internet. The details have been removed, but if you want them to be permanently removed from the page history, please email this address. John of Reading (talk) 05:55, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

The only thing I can think of that would be quite easy is http://schools-wikipedia.org. There are ways to get quite up-to-date copies of the whole of Wikipedia, but they are more complicated as far as I know. The catch with the schools version is that it is quite limited, to only what is relevant to children. But it is easy enough to download- follow the instructions here. I've never tried it myself, though. {{Sonia|talk|simple}} 06:26, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

You may also find more information about an offline copy of Wikipedia at Wikipedia:Wikipedia 1.0. -- œ^™ 10:41, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

You can download a complete copy of all the public data in Wikipedia at any time, which you can then do with as you wish - including sell it, as long as you follow the CC-BY-SA attribution requirements.

As for the fact that Wikipedia changes all the time, our versioning system mitigates some of the ill effects: you can always, through the page history, see how a particular page looked at any given point in time (except in cases where a page has since been deleted or oversighted). Gonzonoir (talk) 10:56, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

how can i submit a page

I am the P.R. for Cant Be Touched Ent. I would like to add my artist Spirit805 to Wikapedia. How can I go about getting this done? Please email me back some info. My email is <redacted>. A quick response would be appreciated.420kid (talk) 03:48, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Please do not include contact details in your questions. We are unable to provide answers by any off-wiki medium and this page is highly visible across the internet. The details have been removed, but if you want them to be permanently removed from the page history, please email this address. Please also read WP:COI - you are strongly advised not to edit or create articles where you have a conflict of interest. – ukexpat (talk) 04:07, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Your artist may or may not be notable according to Wikipedia's criteria: if they are, then somebody may write a suitably referenced, neutral, encyclopaedic article about them. If they are not, then nobody should, as any such article will be deleted.

However, you should not write an article about them, as you have a clear conflict of interest, and it is extremely unlikely that you will be able to write a suitably neutral article. --ColinFine (talk) 18:31, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

How do I create a new page or article?

I want to create a new page for my company and product details and link it to relevant pages. I also went through the help but was of no help.

Please provide simple steps how I can add new pages —Preceding unsigned comment added by JayKinker (talk • contribs) 06:44, 19 May 2010 (UTC) I found one Article wizard. Probably this would work. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Article_wizard —Preceding unsigned comment added by JayKinker (talk • contribs) 06:49, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

First, read Wikipedia:Your first article and follow the steps outlined in that page. I would also recommend you read Wikipedia:FAQ/Organizations. -- œ^™ 10:00, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Different images with the same name on wikipedia and commons

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 15:59, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I wanted to include a commons file [1] in an article, but because that file name also exist on wikipedia [2], the latter one showed up in the article. Both images show the same person, so it is no big problem for the article I was editing, but for future reference: Is there a way to make sure that the commons one is used, or should I move the file on wikipedia?--EdgeNavidad (talk) 07:40, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Add the {{rename media|new name.jpg}} template to the top of the Wikipedia file's description page and an admin can perform the move. PleaseStand ^(talk) 11:04, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Thank you!--EdgeNavidad (talk) 12:13, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

How to "search" as opposed to "go" in new interface - with Firefox

How do I do a "search" as opposed to a "go" in the new interface? I use Mozilla Firefox. Initially I found, after a struggle, that there was an option at the bottom of the dropdown menu which offered "contains" or some such wording. Now it's disappeared! As I spend a lot of time wikignoming around tidying up dab pages etc, it's a real pain not to be able to find occurrences of a word other than the article where it's the title! PamD (talk) 08:16, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

To do a full text search don't write anything; just click on the search icon to go to Special:Search. The "AJAX search suggestions" have been deactivated on en.wiki (Bugzilla:23498) but it seems they solved some of the problems. Try it at the prototype wiki. --Virgolette (talk) 08:43, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, that's very helpful, and I can now find what I need! But it's not obvious, so I wonder how many other people out there are finding that the facility they're used to using has "disappeared"! There's no mention of it, as far as I can see, in any documentation. Ah well, that's "progress". PamD (talk) 09:08, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I recall seeing several people complain about that. Here's one discussion off-hand: Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment/May_2010_skin_change/VPT#Search.2C_not_.22Go.22. -- œ^™ 09:48, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

The "Containing" option at the bottom of the dropdown has reappeared today - presumably its disappearance was a bug now fixed (and not a feature!). PamD (talk) 09:19, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

How can I change the title of an article?

The modification is very simple:

Wikipedia:Articles for creation/Method of quantum characteristics -> Method of quantum characteristics

Thanks. Gerasime (talk) 09:15, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

At the top of the page, there is a tab that says "move". Click it and rename. wiooiw ^(talk) 09:25, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

You appear to be the creator of this article. It is not recommended that users submit articles to Articles for Creation then move them themselves. The reason why no one has reviewed your submission and approved it is because it has no template on it to draw our attention. To fix this, place {{subst:AFC submission/submit}} on the article. Thank you, {{Sonia|talk|simple}} 09:29, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

qwuiting

pls i really wat to quit this for good pls.I wanted to write but Qur'an not Qurantine pls.I am a muslim pls quit me out pls! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.205.15.59 (talk) 10:05, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean. If you have an account (and forgot to sign in!) then just don't sign into the account again - to be sure that you can't, log in and then change your password to a long, random sequence of characters - so that you can't remember it - then log out. If that is not what you mean, I am afraid that you will have to be more specific! Perhaps you are thinking of another website?

Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our roughly 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 left hand 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. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 10:13, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Hehe. The way I interpreted the post was: The user wanted to start an article on the Qur'an, but somehow ended up creating a page under a misspelling (Qurantine), got offended, and wanted to "quit" out of the new page he created, but didn't know how. I could be wrong though. :) -- œ^™

The Hidden Blade

I don't know how to fix this myself, so I'll just leave a message here so somebody can fix it. The article The Hidden Blade seems like a review rather than an informative article about the film. It even describes how the viewer is supposed to feel during different parts of the film!! Surely this is not right? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.124.190.162 (talk) 14:22, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I've removed the entire section - it's not reliably sourced and appears to be original research. Thanks for bringing this up. TNXMan 14:30, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Addres of Alphen hospital

I have just been a dialysis patient at Alphen hospital and wish to thank them can you please supply me with their address. Many thanks Beryl Walker —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.122.92.46 (talk) 14:54, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but we do not have the address. This is a help desk for questions about using Wikipedia. TNXMan 15:00, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm sure what Tnxman means is:

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. — Deon^talk 15:03, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Resubmitted Question: Need to know why the article about the Kruger Brothers was deleted

I have searched Wikipedia trying to find out why the Kruger Brothers article was deleted. I have heard and seen them via the internet and think they are interesting and talented. Is there not room on the site for a concise reason for the deletion? After I entered the search term "Kruger Brothers" I got a reply that the article had received an AFD. There was talk about how recent editors were going to receive a notice that an AFD had been added to the article. I was not one of those recent editors. I could find no reasons given for the AFD. I searched but entering AFD and Kruger Brothers as a search term did not help. I find it uncomfortable to know an article about a subject I was following was deleted and not knowing why. The procedure lacks the transparency I had believed was a keystone of Wikipedia. Please note that I think that my experience finding this notice that an AFD had been added was within the last two weeks. The article had already been deleted. The previous reply inviting me to write an article under these circumstances appears to be counter productive. 1archie99 (talk) 16:06, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

See your previous post and replies thereto now archived at Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 May 15#Why was article about the Kruger Brothers deleted?. Specifically, it was deleted because the article did not assert the notability of the subject, the principal criterion for inclusion in Wikipedia. – ukexpat (talk) 16:11, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

individual inline citations

In the article List of Biblical names there is a "Bible Study Tools Library" letter reference for each individual letter. Within that letter gives the words in that section with additional sources and references. Since every word already has these definitions with the additional sources and references, common sense tells me that this is equivalent to having a reference at the end of a paragraph - therefore each individual sentence within that paragraph does not need to be further referenced, since the reference for the paragraph covers it all. With each word indivually getting all these additional references the section becomes confusing and would not be clear to the reader. However with the main reference provided at the beginning of that letter, then IF a reader wants to know further about that word in the way of further souces THEN they can just look up that word within that reference listed at the top of that letter. This way it becomes more manageable and eaiser for the the reader. Presently there is a dispute on this issue and another editor wants all the words to have all these extra citations on every word, even though it is already covered in the reference provided at the beginning of the letter. It seems logically that all that is necessary is the beginning reference that then covers the additional sources and reference. Common sense tells me that the beginning reference for that letter covers it all, and that is all that is necessary. A reader more interested in an individual word within that section will then follow up on that interested word since the main reference has been provided within that letter section. The question then is: Is all that is necessary is the main reference for that letter section that is already provided within that letter beginning?--LordGorval (talk) 18:12, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

You mentioned common sense. See Wikipedia:There is no common sense. As far as reworking the list, I'd suggest waiting for Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of Biblical names to finish. There's little point in editing something that could get deleted. --Teratornis (talk) 02:21, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Pages created

Is there any page that shows all of the pages a user has created, including both articles and categories, files, pages Project/Wikipedia pages, redirects, and talk pages? If so, how do I access it? Immunize (talk) 20:14, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

See WP:EIW#Count and Wikipedia:WikiProject edit counters. Maybe Soxred93's tools can do some of what you want. For example, I have created these templates which nobody has deleted yet. --Teratornis (talk) 01:56, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Place Alexis Nihon content improvement and update

Hello, I would like to update the content of "Place Alexis Nihon" but I can't because of a filter. Below, the new description I would like to put online (this description is exactly the same one you have in the french version, but translate in English). Could you help me to put that info online? Thank you. Place Alexis Nihon (talk) 20:31, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

proposed content for article

Complex Place Alexis Nihon Shopping Centre A Homburg Real Estate Trust property, Place Alexis Nihon is a 2.4 million square feet urban complex adjacent to Downtown Montreal. Some 38,000 visitors, workers and students flock to it daily. Description Built in the year of Expo 67, Place Alexis Nihon is a multi-purpose complex, featuring two office towers, a residential tower, a three-level shopping centre and a parking with over 1,100 spaces. Directions Place Alexis Nihon, at the corner of Atwater Avenue and Ste-Catherine Street West, is accessible: By Metro: Green line, Atwater Station. This station directly connects to Place Alexis Nihon. By Bus: Bus lines 24, 63, 90, 104, 138, 144, 356, 360. By Car: A-720/Ville-Marie Expressway, Exit 2 - Atwater Avenue. By Bicycle: Bicycle stations levels P1 and P3 of the parking. By BIXI: BIXI Station De Maisonneuve Boulevard West at the corner of Atwater. By Taxi: Waiting area Atwater Avenue at the corner of de Maisonneuve Boulevard West. The Stores The complex is directly connected to the Atwater Metro station and offers numerous services, a variety of shops and superstores, and a food court with over 25 restaurants. Over 100 stores, of which 6 superstores: Canadian Tire IGA Pharmaprix Sports Experts Winners Zellers See also Alexis Nihon List of shopping malls in Montreal External links Place Alexis Nihon WEB Site

Please do not post proposed article content here: this is not the place for it. If you want to discuss the content of an article, including posting proposed content, you should do it at the article's talk page.

I am not sure what you mean by "because of a filter", but I can tell you that the content you have posted here is not appropriate for an encyclopaedia article. None of its content is referenced to reliable sources, and it reads like a cross between an advertisement and a travel guide: see WP:What Wikipedia is not.

Finally, your Username is contrary to the Wikipedia Username policy and will shortly be blocked. --ColinFine (talk) 21:32, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Further thoughts - I agree that the existing article Place Alexis Nihon is not very good, and could be improved; it does at least have some references. Please create a new account which does comply with the username policy, and work on improving it. If you are associated with the mall, then you should not directly edit the article - see WP:COI - but you can contribute to discussions about it on its talk page. --ColinFine (talk) 21:39, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

How Can I load my web page in Wikpedia ?

Please advice me on how can I load my web page, for it to appear on Wikipedia, if someone search for it or with any related words. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Volarhelicopters1 (talk • contribs) 21:21, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia doesn't host webpages and it isn't an index of webpages, it is a collection of articles on various subjects. If your webpage is about a notable subject, you could create an article on that subject and put your webpage's material into it. Otherwise, you're probably out of luck. TastyCakes (talk) 21:23, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Please look at WP:What Wikipedia is not. --ColinFine (talk) 21:43, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

What is your Web page? Give us a link and we'll tell you whether the content is suitable for someone to add to Wikipedia. It's impossible for us to guess without seeing it, although if I had to guess without seeing it, I would guess "no" since Wikipedia only wants a subset of all human knowledge. Also see the alternative outlets. --Teratornis (talk) 01:47, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Your username resembles Volar Helicopters. If you are affiliated with that site, your username would violate our WP:ORGNAME prohibition. --Teratornis (talk) 02:05, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Broken: The Wikipedia Part of the Mac Dictionary App

The wikipedia app built into the dictionary app for OSX is broken. It only loads a portion of the page. You can not scroll to the rest of the page. There is nt even a scroll bar present.

There are many others who have this problem. Please fix it with or without Apple. Thanks.

References: http://www.corndogcomputers.com/tips/macos-dictionary-app-scroll-bug/ http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=916518 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.13.226.178 (talk) 22:44, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Do you have some evidence that there is anything wrong with Wikipedia? Speaking as a software developer and supporter, one thing that will unfailingly get me annoyed is when users expect me to fix something that is absolutely nothing to do with me. I don't know the ins and outs of this case (I'm neither a Mediawiki developer, nor a Mac user) but unless Wikipedia or Mediawiki made an agreement with Apple to maintain some interface, then this issue is 100% with Apple. --ColinFine (talk) 23:03, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

This is because we switched to a different MediaWiki skin and apparently Apple's application cannot handle that. It is a problem that Apple will have to fix. It is logged as bugzilla:23602 in our own problem reporting system. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 23:29, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

We should take it as a compliment when people ask for solutions on the Wikipedia Help desk to problems that are outside our control - this means people believe they will get answers faster here than by descending into the abyss of the typical vendor's technical support. I cannot recall ever seeing a corporate help system that beats what we have right here. It's too bad the Wikipedia Help desk cannot fix every problem, because if we could we'd fix them faster than anybody else. --Teratornis (talk) 01:39, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Referencing

In some of my postings I add references. Most of the time they are accepted with the <ref>...</ref> tags but in some cases I get the "There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a <references/> tag" message in red and I dont know how to get around it. There is no consistency. Please someone advise me by e-mail [email removed] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.212.158.14 (talk) 23:23, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

We don't reply by email. The code <references/> or {{Reflist}} controls where references are displayed when the <ref>...</ref> notation is used. Some of the pages you edit already have the code and others don't. If they don't then add it in a references section or you get an error message. See Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners#Inserting a reference. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:10, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Also see WP:LAYOUT#Standard appendices and footers. When you see an article that lacks the standard footer sections, you can add them. --Teratornis (talk) 01:42, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

We will not reply by email, and please don't include it because it's a very high-traffic area and you'll get loads of spam. You need to check back here for answers and advice. Chevymontecarlo 11:44, 20 May 2010 (UTC)