Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 September 13

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September 13

Feedback requests

Helpdesk helpers, please help provide feedback for users asking from 6 September, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, today, etc.

Thanks,  Chzz  ►  02:34, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Struck 6th; that one is now completed.  Chzz  ►  10:49, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Vancouver Island Article Cleanup

I'm trying to improve the article on Vancouver Island so that the cleanup notice at the top of the article can be removed. I've done a few things so far, but I'm really not sure what precisely is needed. I have read over the style guides a bit, but I would really appreciate it if someone experienced could take a quick glance at the article and give me some pointers.

Thanks, Ewaladel (talk) 02:38, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

[Edit]: didn't realize there's a feedback request section, will post this there instead. Ewaladel (talk) 02:41, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

The 'cleanup' tag has already been removed [1].

The main thing it needs (like most articles) is more inline references to reliable sources - for example, the "Geography and environment" section has very few sources, and consequently it looks like original research.

For more ideas, have a look at good articles on similar topics - and notice their referencing.  Chzz  ►  03:53, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the tips, I'll see what I can do. Ewaladel (talk) 05:06, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Feedback requests

[2] ive had the article deleted.. i hear this happens alot

(A7: No explanation of the subject's significance (real person, animal, organization, or web content)) can i get some help here? i dontunderstand what i left out. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Renthemighty (talk • contribs) 05:01, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

The reason is very clear: You provided three references in the article. Crunchbase lists tons of companies that are not significant in any way. The company's own website cannot be used to show significance. LinkedIn cannot be used to show significance. You need to find some articles written about the company. Look for something in a real (ie: printed and mailed to customers) magazine or newspaper. -- kainaw™ 05:06, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Renthemighty (talk • contribs) 05:08, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Not sure what (if anything) to do with this....

Got a page here. Word for word copy of this page here. But that page is a government website. Ergo its part of the public domain, right? So what do I do? Do I need to tag it with something? Or just wikify and categorize it? Thanks in advance, *Kat* (talk) 07:05, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Guy comes along and copy pastes that from a GOV website two edits and gone, and we are left with it forever. I would blank it as a copy vio and speedy delete it. We are allegedly here to write a our own encyclopedia not cut and copy other peoples content. That public domain thing with gov websites is unclear, imo get rid of it. Off2riorob (talk) 07:22, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

PROD/AFD as a POV essay or content-fork of the chemical-classes themselves. Just because the content is wiki-legal doesn't mean it's an appropriate article content/topic or that it doesn't need a nearly complete rewrite to give perspective and encyclopedic tone. WT:CHEM or WT:ENV might have some ideas? DMacks (talk) 07:25, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Copy-and-paste is bad. It could be cited as a reference, though. Right? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 07:26, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

I like the idea of letting the Enviromental and Chemistry people decide to do with this. Thanks Macks. --*Kat* (talk) 07:55, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Non attendance at court

I am due to attend court today but my child is sick. what could happen if I just phone the court up and let them know. I also do not have a solicitor. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Doghawkman (talk • contribs) 08:12, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

We cannot offer legal advice. Please see the legal disclaimer. Contact your lawyer. --Danger (talk) 09:05, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Doghawkman, I guess that this was today, so the event is past anyway; but I want to expand on Danger's rather brusque answer, in case you felt unwelcomed.

Suppose I gave you some advice: you have absolutely no way of knowing whether I know what I am talking about, or am making it up for whatever reason (or I'm not making it up, but I'm completely mistaken). Since you haven't told us which country you're in, so my suggestions might be valid for where I am but wrong for where you are. That is why Wikipedia has a policy not to give medical or legal advice. Sorry. --ColinFine (talk) 21:14, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

More importantly, the Foundation doesn't want to be sued if someone gives bad medical or legal advice. – ukexpat (talk) 21:21, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

User dictionary

This may seem a strange question. Does Wikipedia have its own custom dictionaries that check spelling when editing articles? I ask because I find that if I mis-type artcile rather than article, it does not show up as mispelt (i.e. with red line underneath). I assumed that somehow the wrongly spelt word had got into my MS Office user dictionary, but that is not the case, I have checked. As this particular mis-spelling is one of my common mis-spellings, it is driving me quietly nuts!—Preceding unsigned comment added by Jezhotwells (talk • contribs)

You've confused me with your mention of MS Office ;-) I use Google's "Chrome" browser, and when I type "artcile" (this is one of my most common mis-spellings, too...) Chrome does underline it. How does MS Office fit in here? If you're drafting posts in Word, say, I doubt Wikipedia would have any direct connection to Office's dictionary. TFOWR 10:33, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

@TFOW I think the user was referring to Word in comparison to editing a wiki page, presumably in a browser.

Wikipedia does not have any custom dictionaries.

Any spell-checking function is dependent on your own machine setup. I'm using Firefox's built-in dictionary, "artcile" does indeed have a wiggly red line.

I suspect that you may have accidentally clicked/pressed something to add the word to your 'custom dictionary', and you can probably edit and remove it; refer to your browser help. Best,  Chzz  ►  10:56, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Another possibility is that the browser is configured not to do spell-checking for arbitrary text boxes. My firefox didn't until I pick "Spell check this field" from the right-click popup menu on it, or "Check my spelling as I type" in one of the pref-panes. DMacks (talk) 12:15, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for your help. My own stupidity in not realising that it was the user dictionary in Firefox. Doh! Jezhotwells (talk) 21:28, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Route template

In Wikipedia:Route diagram template#Icon_and_text_row_templates, is there a way to have more than 9 icons in a row? Because I want to have a more 2-dimensional map.--Mikespedia is on Wikipedia! 14:52, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

It looks as if the limit is 12, since there are templates named {{BS10}}, {{BS11}} and {{BS12}} -- John of Reading (talk) 15:21, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Deleted Article

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but anyway: Is there any way I can look at articles that have now been deleted? Many thanks, SRESQ (talk) 17:50, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

You cannot see the actual article, as only admins are able to view deleted edits. However, you can see a log where the article used to be. For example, if you look at Www.globalinstructor.com, you'll see a note indicating that I deleted the article. TNXMan 17:55, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

• Dear SRESQ, there are four ways in which you can see deleted articles:

1. You could request a specific article to be undeleted and given to you. However, please note that this not equivalent to a deletion review. Kindly read the notes within the link that has been provided; they are substantially helpful.
2. You could request an administrator directly to give you the text of the deleted article. The category of all administrators ready to provide you such text is given here.
3. You could ask one of the above mentioned administrators to directly 'userfy' the deleted content to your user space. Please read this article properly to understand what is meant by userfication.
4. You could become an administrator. Kindly read our guide on how to apply for adminship.

I hope that provides you some workable solutions dear SRESQ. Please write back if you need additional help. Warm regards. ♪ ♫ Wifione ♫ ♪ _―Œ ^{♣Łeave Ξ мessage♣} 18:32, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Deletionpedia (a site unconnected to Wikipedia) does have an archive of some deleted articles, but I don't know whether it is still being updated and, if so, how often. – ukexpat (talk) 18:56, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Edit links messed up

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 19:18, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Twenty-seventh_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution has a strange problem. Many edit links seem misplaced on the page, all bunched together and on the right midway in the article. I'm boggled... what about you? Reinderien^{talk/contribs} 18:51, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

{{Fix bunching}} will take care of that - I'll take a look at it. – ukexpat (talk) 18:57, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

 Done – ukexpat (talk) 19:01, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Ah, interesting. Thanks. Reinderien^{talk/contribs} 19:12, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Use of picture

Resolved

 – Discussion opened at Wikipedia:No original research/Noticeboard#Somali Piracy - use of picture. – ukexpat (talk) 19:50, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Hi there, on the Piracy in Somalia page there is an image being used that I don't think is appropriate, but others claim is. In my view, its use is inappropriate because it is unnecessary (doesn't add information to the article) and presents the matter with some bias (ie endorses the notion that Somali piracy is justified by illegal nuclear dumping). I don't know the rules on image use very well and was hoping someone here could give some guidance... Thanks a lot, TastyCakes (talk) 19:04, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

You would probably be better of raising this at the OR noticeboad. – ukexpat (talk) 19:15, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Ok will do, thanks. TastyCakes (talk) 19:24, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Changes in multiple languages

We have recently changed the URL to our website at the City of Reno, Nevada to www.reno.gov. I changed the link on the English version of the Wikipedia page (Reno, Nevada) and started to change it on some of the other pages.

Will the pages in other languages change automatically or do I have to continue to change all of them manually? If they change automatically, how long will this change take? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.222.67.66 (talk) 19:14, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

You should change them manually. It may happen semi-automatically if there is a bot set up to make such changes, but I don't know of one, so the only way to be sure is to make the edits manually. – ukexpat (talk) 19:17, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

I suppose that someone could use AWB to go through all the pages in the Nevada category to change the old link to the new one. That should get most of them in the English Wikipedia at least, I would think. Dismas|^(talk) 19:23, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Just for the record, the list of links is here. Magog the Ogre (talk) 22:17, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Creating a New Article in the place of one that was previously deleted

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 14:48, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

Hello -- I'm new to Wikipedia so forgive me if I'm asking something confusing or that I should already know....

I would like to create an entry defining 'Nerd Girl', based on the Nerd Girl concept developed by Dr. Karen Panetta at Tufts University and as seen in Newsweek and on The Today Show, among other media.

When I search Article Creation on 'Nerd Girl', I see that the article name cannot be used (already taken), but when I go to 'Nerd Girl' in Wikipedia I just get a redirect to a page on Bluestockings, a very different page.

I also noticed that there used to be a Nerd Girl page but it has since been deleted (July 2009) for poor content.

So, 'Nerd Girl' does not seem to be in use at the moment, although the Article Creation Wizard says it is. Is there a way I can use 'Nerd Girl' as the title of a new page?

Hope that makes sense :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ktraino1 (talk • contribs) 20:29, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Just edit the Nerd Girl redirect page (using this link) to remove the redirect code and add the text of your article. I would however advise that you create the article first as a user subpage (at User:Ktraino1/Nerd Girl for example) then ask for it to be reviewed before you copy the text into the (old) redirect page. – ukexpat (talk) 20:33, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Note also that Nerd Girl and Nerd girl are two different redirect pages, the former to Nerd and the latter to Bluestocking. – ukexpat (talk) 20:35, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Yes, that's confusing. Nerd equates 'nerd girls' with Bluestockings, whereas our article on Bluestockings doesn't mention nerd girls. We shouldn't have two different redirects like that, so an article, if it is notable, would solve the problem! Ukexpat's right though, create it in your userspace first. Dougweller (talk) 20:39, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

I see that the user has already created a subpage at User:Ktraino1/Nerd Girls but it will need a lot more work to become an encyclopedic article. – ukexpat (talk) 20:45, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Thanks -- that is all helpful. I am just getting my feet wet and yes, my article has a long way to go -- first just figuring out the process and next on to the writing. It will be helpful to have it under Nerd Girl as opposed to Nerd Girls, and I can see I still have a lot to learn about the semantics. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ktraino1 (talk • contribs) 22:17, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Yes singular titles are the preferred format, subject to the exceptions described at that linked page. As for capitalisation, "nerd girl" appears to be a concept rather than a proper noun so Nerd girl would be the preferred article title. Hope this helps. I am marking this as resolved, but if you need further help, don't hesitate to come back and ask again or leave me a message on my talk page. – ukexpat (talk) 14:48, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

Redirecting to other version of Wikipedia

The sixth last film ( Passion of Life 2005 ) here (art films) under the heading of mainstream films redirects to the German version. Don't know how to correct it. Help would appreciable.

OmerKhetran (talk) 21:11, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Well, there is no entry in the English Wikipedia for that film, so the options would appear to be:

• Leave things as they are
• Create a red link, in the hope that someone notices and writes it
• Write the article yourself, possibly (if your German is good enough) using the de article as a source

Rojomoke (talk) 21:19, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Or ask one of these users to assist in translating the German Wikipedia article. – ukexpat (talk) 21:24, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Please do not use the Deutsch article as a source, as Rojomoke suggests above. Other wikis are not considered reliable sources and cannot be cited. Rather, I believe he meant that you should use the sources cited by the German article, with a link to the original in the sidebar and on the talk page. Intelligentsium 21:58, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

By "source" I think User:Rojomoke meant as a basis for a translation into English, rather than as a "reference". – ukexpat (talk) 03:09, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

Country hits

Is it possible to get a list of all the number one "Country Hits" since 1950? Thanks Don Bradley —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.82.207.103 (talk) 23:27, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

Your question is a little vague - are you looking for singles? Albums? Artists? We have a list of number one songs, however our list only goes back as far as 2001. Our list of number one albums only goes back to 1980. Also, these lists are for the United States. Other countries have different charts, so the information be different there. TNXMan 23:52, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

You would probably get a better response if you posted your question at the Entertainment Reference Desk

Challenging

Hi, I was not able to locate specific information on how to challenge a part of an article.

I would appreciate if someone could guide me how, as I have doubts over a sentence in an article I just read. Thanx & Rgds, Shahril Ref740 (talk) 23:44, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

What is your concern? Is the sentence not verifiable? Is so, it may need to be removed. Do you disagree with the sentence? That's a little trickier and may require discussion on the article's talk page. If you could point out the sentence, we may be able to assist you further. TNXMan 23:53, 13 September 2010 (UTC)