Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2011 December 12

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December 12

Deleting a File I Uploaded ?

Greetings,

I would like to delete a file I uploaded to Wk Commons. I have already taken it down from the page I was using it on. I received one of those speedy deletion nomination notices, so it is only a matter of time before it is removed anyway, but why wait? Also, the same user appears to be tracking me each time I upload a pic so I'm done; no more attempts at uploading images for me. It's a huge waste of time and it's simply way too big of a hassle. And I don't like the thought or feeling of being hounded that way by one particular user, as if I'm being monitored. It's really kinda creepy. So, can I delete the pic file myself to just get this over with, or do I have to wait for the powers that be to do it? And if I can delete it myself, how do I go about doing that? I found all the info for the file on my Wk Commons Talk page, but I could not see how to edit or delete it on there. (I'm still very new to Wk, if this was not obvious already). Thanks!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Norlns22 (talk • contribs) 01:21, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

If you put it on commons, it's out of the jurisdiction of the local admins. Just wait for the guys on that side to deal with it.
Oh, and try not to be too discouraged by the labyrinthine image policy. Copyright law is not exactly known for being the easiest thing in the world to understand. --erachima talk 01:27, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Thanks a ton for answering my post, and thanks for acknowledging my frustration! That means a lot, to be truthful. :D

Started new Article Mulbarapa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:I_dream_of_horses (Added {{new unreviewed article}} tag to article (TW)) 01:24, 12 December 2011‎. Would anyone like to give feedback on this new Article?

Unfortunately, I have some concerns. While there appear to be three references, two are to Facebook pages, which do not usually qualify as acceptable references. There are some rare exceptions, but I cannot view the pages, so I can't confirm wheyther these qualify as exceptions.

The text of the article is uncomfortably close to the text of the third reference. It is not enough to simply change a few of the words See Wikipedia:Close paraphrasing for more information.--SPhilbrickT 13:32, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Here is my feedback. The article does not provide sufficient context: Perhaps the Mulbarapa are Australian aborigines, but the article does not make that clear. Who is Ngurunderi? Is that a mythic figure? Perhaps the article written from an in-world mythic point of view; if so, it does not make that clear. Alltogether I find it unencyclopedic and difficult to read. —teb728 t c 13:59, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

INFORMATION ON AC # 6076

Information on Jack Toone {death} Ac #6076.

Thanks.... Carol Hawkins

(Redacted) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.168.98.212 (talk) 03:06, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Hello Carol. Do you realize that you are at the help desk of Wikipedia, an encyclopedia with a few million articles? I ask because your question seem to presume a context we don't have and we do not have any account numbers here which I take "Ac" followed by a number to be a reference to. This particular page is a help desk for answering question about using the site. We also have a reference desk where you can ask general knowledge question but you should try to be more clear about what exactly you are seeking.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:21, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Air Canada Flight 6076 flies (SVG) Stavanger, NO to (CPH) Copenhagen, DK. Perhaps Jack Toone died on such a flight. There was a Jack Toone killed on a flight in Alaska in about 1955, but I can't see a flight number or any other information here. Bielle (talk) 03:32, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

problems asking a question

I have trouble with this.

1) I try to log in. I cannot log in. I am told I will be sent a new password but do not receive any notice.

2) I try to find info on Michael Jacot, author of The Last Butterfly (Ballentine Novel 24406; Libr of congr 73-16803; SBN 345-24406-0-150), Ballentine Books 1975. No article on the author or the book. But I cannot understand the procedure for asking for an article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.51.88.199 (talk) 04:32, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

1. Have you made an account? Are you certain you made it using the e-mail you are checking? Have you checked your spam box?

2. The place to list that article would be Wikipedia:Requested articles/Culture and fine arts/Literature#Authors (poets, dramatists and fiction writers). However, that process is incredibly backlogged and it's generally easier to either write the thing yourself, or else find someone who works on similar articles and personally ask them. Good luck. --erachima talk 07:11, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Citations..basic formatting

I printed out the full Wk tutorial, but I need some basic info on citing references. Are website addresses included after the url supposed to be italicized when cited? If you find an article on, say, the online edition of The New York times, is that a website reference, or a newspaper reference, or either/ both depending on the author's preference? MLA shows a hybrid citation style, where you treat an online citation as a newspaper or magazine (depending on the site of course) but add the verbiage "on the web" after the title of the mag or paper. Also, should I be including authors' names of articles whenever possible? I see a fairly wide variety of citation styles as I peruse various articles on Wk. Is there one, definitive or preferred way to cite references? Also, MLA, as far as I can tell or unless the site I visited was outdated, instructs authors to underline newspaper titles. This made me curious, because I've never come across any Wk articles that use underlined text in citations. Thanks for any info or links to where I can learn more about proper citation. Norlns22 (talk) 05:02, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Hi Norlns22. We are really not so concerned with what style is used but with providing sufficient attribution so that anyone who wishes can read a citation, understand what the source is and can find it themselves to verify that the information it is cited for is correct. We actually don't prefer any particuar citation style over another, but we do prefer that once one style is used, the use stays fairly consistent within the confines of a particular article. See Wikipedia:Citing sources#Citation style. We have citation templates that standardize citation styles, and once you understand how to use them, they make it easy because the order you will it out does not matter; they automatically place the punctuation and order of information for you. For a New York Times article I would suggest using the citation template {{cite news}}. An example:

<ref>{{cite news|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0A11FD3D551B7A93C2A81783D85F408285F9|title=Change Is Planned in Balkline Game|date=August 10, 1924|work=The New York Times|page=24|format=subscription or fee required}}</ref>

which will format in the references section of an article as

"Change Is Planned in Balkline Game" (subscription or fee required). The New York Times. August 10, 1924. p. 24.

Other common templates: For books, {{cite book}}; for magazines and other journals, {{cite Journal}}; and for online sources that are not the online version of something also in print, {{cite web}}. If you click on the template names I have provided it will take you to the template page where there is documentation provided on usage. See also Wikipedia:Citation templates, Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners with citation templates, Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners, Wikipedia:Citing sources/Example style and there's many other pages in the area found through the "see also" sections of these links.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 05:47, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

See Help:Citation Style 1 which has an overview of a common set of templates. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 11:34, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Infobox weird behavior

Why am I getting "[[File:|frameless|alt=]]" at the top of my infobox? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hg3300 (talk • contribs) 06:22, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

It's because of the way you've formatted the image. The code you will want to use to get that to go away is:

| image = Harold Wagner.jpg

| caption = Avatar used by Harold on the web.

| imagesize = 220px

| alt = Philadelphia Eagle

for the section of the infobox from the image to the alt parameters. - Purplewowies (talk) 06:58, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Need help with replacing image

Hi everyone. The coat of arms file for Central African Republic has a svg version ready to replace it. I'm not sure how to technically do this and switch them out. Any help is appreciated! --Turn685 (talk) 08:35, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

You need to upload the new image if you haven't already, and then edit the lead section to change the value of the "image_coat" parameter in the info box. Which step are you having trouble with? -- John of Reading (talk) 08:44, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

My edit was deleted and i would like to take issue with whoever deleted it!

Hi, I recently offered some edit material to a rather basic article but within 24 hours it was deleted without explanation. How do I at least get this reviewed as I am now blocked from reinstating or offering an amended edit contribution?Origmadcol1 (talk) 09:45, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Well, the process is going to depend on what the page was. Generally if a page you create is summarily deleted, it's because you've either inadvertently violated copyright law or wrote an article that read like an advertisement. What was the article? --erachima talk 09:52, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Your contribution record shows no previous edits other than the question above. We can't review your previous edit without you telling us what it was. - David Biddulph (talk) 09:55, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Why was my page deleted? for general help. Its impossible to give more specific help when you don't reveal the page name or username. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:53, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

If it was just your edit that was removed rather than the whole page, you can click the "View history" tab at the top of the page. That will show you all the edits to the page. On that page you can identify who reverted you and hopefully an edit summary explaining why they did it. You could ask them about their revert on their user talk page. Or you can click on the "Discussion" tab at the top of the article page. That will take you to a page where you can discuss article content. —teb728 t c 14:15, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Archive help

I've read User:MiszaBot/Archive_HowTo, but there must be something I've missed. My talk page hasn't archived in some time. I once had a problem due to undated material on the page, but that doesn't seem to be the issue. Any thoughts?--SPhilbrickT 13:17, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

User:MiszaBot/Archive HowTo#Setting up archiving says: "Put the following template at the top of the page". It hasn't been in the lead section since [1]. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:30, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, that explains it.--SPhilbrickT 18:33, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

what defines an English person

Search above  ??? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.89.150.81 (talk) 14:03, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Please do your own homework.
Welcome to the Wikipedia Help desk. Your question appears to be a homework question. I apologize if this is a misevaluation, but it is our policy here not to do people's homework for them, but merely to aid them in doing it themselves. Letting someone else do your homework does not help you learn how to solve such problems.
Please attempt to solve the problem yourself first. You can search Wikipedia or search the Web.
If you need help with a specific part of your homework, the Reference desk can help you grasp the concept. Do not ask knowledge questions here, just those about using Wikipedia. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 14:13, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Did you see the answer above at #'google' what defines an english person. —teb728 t c 14:19, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Dave Scott Atlanta Falcons.He graduated from J.F.K High School Paterson ,New Jersey !972 ,not Paterson Catholic H.S

I am the Dave Scott who played 7 years with the falcons.I graduated from J.F.K. h.s.1972 not Paterson Catholic h.s.Also I was rated by Pro Scout INC.among the top offensive guards in N.F.L,for 4Seasons. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.56.94.184 (talk) 14:40, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

We'll need a source on that other than just you saying so (anyone can claim to be anyone on the internet, after all), but I've removed the claim about Paterson Catholic from Dave Scott (American football). --erachima talk 18:40, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Kathryn Kates Page

Hi: I created the page "Kathryn Kates" and Acroterion was very helpful and even said the page was good especially for a first timer. I tried to leave a message for him but can't for some reason. Initially he had listed Kathryn Kates in the List of American Actresses but I no longer see her listed there and am wondering why that is. Thanks very much. Jnkates (talk) 15:23, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Sorry - My mistake - I see the lists of where Kathryn Kates is listed at the bottom of her page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jnkates (talk Jnkates (talk) 15:32, 12 December 2011 (UTC) • contribs) 15:31, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Mean as custard?

I have tried to submit some information on a Renewable Energy fund on Wiki, but it instantly got removed as "spam" by "Mean as custard", is there anyone who could please advise me on what to do next? Many thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sakelly2012 (talk • contribs) 15:37, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

You tried to advertise a company that you are very likely attached to. In other words, you are confusing Wikipedia with other websites like Facebook or Google+. When your company is notable, someone will make an encyclopedic article about it, not marketing fodder. -- kainaw™ 15:41, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Help on judging appropriateness of adding content

Hi there, I added new info to "Mayakkam Enna" wikipage but got below message from a 'bot' that my add was not appropriate. Could you please review the link and let me know why the bot thought so? Thank you. -Venki.

Hello! I'm a bot created by another Wikipedia editor. I wanted to let you know that I removed a link that you recently added to the page Mayakkam Enna here. I did this because http://kranjani.wordpress.com/2011/12/03/mayakkam-enna-the-spin-story/ is probably inappropriate for an encyclopedia. Kgvenkatesh (talk) 18:02, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

I can't say for certain what algorithm was used by the bot, but the link is to a blog, links to blogs are almost never acceptable – there are some exceptions, but this doesn't appear to be one of them. You can read Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources, which will give you an overview of the types of sources that are permitted, as well as an explanation of why blogs are not. Please let me know if this doesn't answer your question.--SPhilbrickT 18:42, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Edit Proposals

I find that the Wikipedia: Drawing Board is a useful resource for getting feedback on proposals for new articles. Is there a similar resource for proposed edits/additions to existing pages? I'm aware that the discussion pages for individual articles serves this function, but they are not always active and don't guarantee a response.

Thanks in advance,

Matthewvetter (talk) 18:58, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Article talk pages, relevant Wikiprojects, discussion with specific editors, and just doing it. --erachima talk 19:28, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Everything that erachima said is good. Other things can include discussing your edits with experienced editors or administrators. Most of them will be able to help even if it isn't a topic they edit a lot. Otherwise you could look at the edit history to find out if any editors who helped write the page are still active and discuss it with them. Ryan Vesey Review me! 19:31, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

hi...im trying to get a book summary....

I'm in need of a summary on a book by j.a rogers the name of the book is from"superman to man"....please help... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.54.39.179 (talk) 19:52, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Amazon has info about the book here. -- kainaw™ 19:53, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Hi

Why on earth is it so long and complicated just to send you an e-mail?? Anyways, I just wanted to make a suggestion, that after a user has arranged a donation, you could maybe take down the advert/appeal of a donation for that user's IP address? Just an idea.

Thanks for all the good work, keep it up!

-)

Allan.

p.s I got tired of trying to find out where to direct this mail to, in the mazes of "contact us" menus, please can you forward it to the appropriate account. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.4.250.195 (talk) 19:56, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

IP addresses do not belong to users. They belong to the internet service providers. So, it is not possible to take down the ad for a single user. If you create a free Wikipedia account, you can easily remove the ads for your account. -- kainaw™ 19:59, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)/Archive 94#How to hide all fundraising banners on all Wikimedia wikis until next year. It works for me to go to http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Thank_You/en. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:54, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Any comments can be sent to donate@wikimedia.org

 Chzz  ►  09:07, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

There isn't a "you" to send emails to. (There are some email addresses for particular purposes, but mails sent to them go to only a few people). --ColinFine (talk) 00:13, 14 December 2011 (UTC)

Bare URL for Citations Warning

Okay, now I am pissed. I have asked SO MANY QUESTIONS on here how to properly cite an article I am working on. You are dealing w/ a HIGHLY NEUROTIC person who is DETAILED TO A FAULT. I followed instructions based on guidance and assistance I received on here exactly as instructed. Now, the article I wrote has been tagged w/ a "Bare URL" warning. WTF! What does this mean...what am I doing wrong? BE PSYCHOTICALLY SPECIFIC, please! I'm very new. Norlns22 (talk) 20:07, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

This just angers me to no end that I rely on help on here, and now I find out it's wrong wrong wrong. Norlns22 (talk) 20:09, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Try Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners.--SPhilbrickT 20:18, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

I appreciate requests to be Psychotically Specific. Wikipedia needs people of all kinds and those who want to be Psychotically Specific help keep wikipedia together. I'm not completely sure that the Bare URL warning is most appropriate, that tends to be more for those where it is only the URL <ref>[http://www.cnn.com/foowhatever]</ref> rather than for <ref>[http:///www.cnn.com/foowhatever Senator keyboard appointed as DNC chair]</ref>. What the references should be turned into ideally is cites. {{cite web|title= Senator keyboard appointed as DNC chair|Author=Joseph Smith|url=http://www.cnn.com/foowhatever|date=December 5, 2011|accessdate=December 12,2011}}</ref>. There are a number of cite templates, see Wikipedia:Citation_templates. Honestly, this warning could probably apply to at least 10% of the articles in Wikipedia.Naraht (talk) 20:56, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Thank you and thanks for the examples. I dread going back and changing all of my citations, but I guess I will have to in order to avoid having warning boxes slapped on articles I am working on. I honestly do not see how the "cite" template contains more information than the citation format I was using, or how it makes confirming sources any easier. One question: does date = the date the article was published and accessdate = today's date? Again, I appreciate your response. Thanks!! Norlns22 (talk) 02:49, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

You could always buy Turabian or Chicago manual of style or MLA's manual of style. These provide best-practice guides for why to cite, what information makes a citation useful to others, and how to format content. Fifelfoo (talk) 02:54, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

Exactly right. Date means date of publication; accessdate means the date you accessed the source. Journal and book cites do not need an accessdate since they aren't dynamic like webpages.
The {{cite}} template is not mandatory; see Wikipedia:Citation templates. So long as the citation contains key information like author, publication date, publication name (e.g., The New York Times), title of the source, and url if available, and the citation is formatted in a clear fashion, there are no problems. Goodvac (talk) 03:25, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

Date changes on Template:Non-free reduced?

Hello. I am experiencing a rather strange issue with Template:Non-free reduced. I added it to File:Simeverything.jpg on December 4. However, whenever the template is viewed on that file's page, the date that it claims it was added changes to the present day (for example, today it says that the template was uploaded Dec. 12 and the previous version of the file should be deleted on Dec. 19, although it was actually uploaded on Dec. 4 and the previous version of the file was due for deletion on Dec. 11. Tomorrow it will claim it was uploaded on Dec. 13, etc). Did I do anything wrong when I added this template? Thanks for your help. Chris (talk) 21:19, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

The template should have been put in as follows: {{non-free reduced|date=4 December 2011}}. I'm guessing the template couldn't find the date parameter the way you put it in, so it just kept updating the date. Using {{subst:furd}} back on the 4th would've caused the same result as the code I mentioned above. I've fixed the template for you. - Purplewowies (talk) 21:50, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Sorry, I don't think that's the problem...

I think you probably added {{Non-free reduced}}

Instead, you should have put {{Subst:Non-free reduced}}

The former means the date keeps changing; the latter stores a permanent record of the date when you save it. (Wikipedia:Substitution)  Chzz  ►  08:44, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

The problem was a user introduced the "date" field as an alternative, and another made some fix-ups that broke functionality for an unlabelled field. Rich Farmbrough, 12:21, 13 December 2011 (UTC).

Labeled map

How can I easily create something like Template:Alabama NHLs map? CTJF83 23:04, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Easily? That may be a trick. At all? That should be doable. Template:BanatJosephinischeLandaufnahme,1769-72 seems like a good example to start from, as it has reasonably bare-bones formatting for the category. --erachima talk 01:42, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

The following links might also help you:

• Template:Location map
• Template:Location map/Creating a new map template
• Template:Location map+

- Purplewowies (talk) 01:55, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

Ok, thank you both. CTJF83 02:53, 13 December 2011 (UTC)