Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2011 December 19

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December 19

Inclusion of source in an appropriate format acceptable in Wiki

I inserted a website address as a documented source for verification purposes and it was rejected as inappropriate for an encyclopedia. How can this source be accessed for inclusion as a reference into the body of a Wiki entry? Papalinton (talk) 01:34, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Sorry but blogs are not considered reliable sources; so they can't be used as references. See WP:SPS. —teb728 t c 01:52, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

This appears to be the edit in question. The deletion was made by an automated account, User:XLinkBot. That bot automatically deletes edits by new users to web sites that are usually inappropriate as sources on Wikipedia. Since the website linked to, WordPress.com is a web hosting service that does not supervise the content posted by its subscribers, the contents of that site seldom meet Wikipedia's guideline on identifying reliable sources. Since the goal of the edit seems to be to show the subject of the article is notable, the citation should be to a reliable, independent source. How are we supposed to know if the apparent author of the web site, Steve Caruso, is considered an authority on anything? Jc3s5h (talk) 01:59, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Suggestion for a way to collect a lot more money

You have to advertise or die. We get it. However, the ads at the top of every page searched soon become a screaming pain in the butt. I paid in a healthy sum right at the start of the campaign in the hopes the ads would then stop. They didn't. These are computers we are using, not televisions: Unlike PBS, you can do things like serving ads only to those people who have failed to donate. Let people know you will turn off the advertising if and when they pay, and a lot more people will donate money. They will do so early on, ending the campaign quickly and successfully. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Toghome (talk • contribs) 01:54, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Logged-in users can suppress the banner in My preferences -> Gadgets. If you aren't logged in we can't tell that you are only one person. Also we often use "ads" here to mean accepting commercial advertising which we have never done in our ten years. Soliciting for donations is something else entirely. Rmhermen (talk) 03:50, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Links to pages that require membership

If an article is referenced with a link(s) to pages that require membership, are they still considered to be reliable02:18, 19 December 2011 (UTC)02:18, 19 December 2011 (UTC)~~ sources? Is there a special tag that should be added to the article? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pirhounix (talk • contribs)

It depends very much on what source you're referring to. Is it a newspaper website behind a paywall, for example? Or a journal that requires membership to view the full article? We need more details. UltraExactZZ ^Said ~ Did 02:22, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Membership requirements are irrelevant as far as our reliable sources guidelines go. Many freely-accessible webpages are considered unreliable, while pages from some membership-required websites, such as JSTOR for example, are pretty much always considered reliable. At the same time, of course, membership requirements don't make something more reliable; a membership-only section of a privately-hosted website isn't reliable, but this freely-available article from ABC News is surely reliable. Nyttend (talk) 03:11, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Membership requirements are highly relevant. If "membership" means having paid a fee that any member of the public is allowed to pay, and the fee has some plausible correlation to the value of the publication, fine, it's essentially the same as buying a newspaper at a news stand. But if membership means espousing the views of the organization that operates the web site, then the information is not published and we can't use it. For example, I can't cite American Red Cross (ARC) internal web sites because one would have to volunteer for the ARC, submit a medical form, and sign a code of conduct before one could access the web site. Jc3s5h (talk) 03:32, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

See WP:PAYWALL. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 05:47, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

posted production credits but warning page deletion msg is still there !

posted production credits but warning page deletion msg is still there ! plz help ! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.93.128.114 (talk) 03:58, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Presuming you are referring to Noel "Detail" Fisher]. The messages states "You may remove this message if you improve the article or otherwise object to deletion for any reason.". ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 05:49, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

WRONG MESSAGES

I get notifications about wrongly editing articles, though I've never edited one nor have an account — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.186.23.80 (talk) 04:00, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

As it says on the warning notices, If this is a shared IP address, and you didn't make the edit, consider creating an account for yourself so you can avoid further irrelevant notices. Your internet provider swaps IP addresses around between accounts, and others are editing under the same address. There isn't any way to identify you individually unless you have an account. Sorry. AndyTheGrump (talk) 04:04, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

(edit conflict)Other people are using the same IP address as you are to access the internet, and they are vandalizing articles. If you would like to avoid getting messages not intended for you, then you should register an account. Click here for more reasons why registering an account is a good idea. --Jayron32 04:07, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Image Help

Could someone please add {{self|cc-by-sa-3.0|GFDL|migration=redundant}} to the following image I uploaded: File:Upper Room Devotional Cover.jpg. Thank you! Sincerely, Bmbaker88 (talk) 04:31, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

You can do it yourself. However, you might want to trim of the large area of black background and consider whether you can justifiably claim you are the copyright owner of that magazine cover? Astronaut (talk) 04:54, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

I've cropped the image, reduced its size, added a FUR, given it a license, and placed one other image uploaded by the user up for deletion at FfD (copyrighted w/ erroneous own work claim, fails NFCC #8). Sven Manguard Wha? 05:23, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

how do you upload???

I go to the help about editing and it has a list of objects: tables, lists, pics, etc. Nowhere does it say how to upload a pic or anything. I click on the link for pics. It says upload, here's the file types you can upload. Nowhere does it say how to upload. I cant be the first person baffled by this. How do I upload a pic to wikipedia??? Can we add it to the help place that goes on for two pages about how to put pics on wikipedia? I mean, isnt that a kinda important part of uploading pics, you know, the part about, um, HOW YOU UPLOAD THEM. Sorry I guess you can tell Im frustrated. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.182.6.35 (talk) 05:15, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Only registered users can upload files. You would have to sign up for an account, and furthermore, then make at least ten edits and wait four days before you could do so. There is a link for uploading files in the toolbox dropdown menu on the left hand side of the page in the awful default vector skin that was foisted on us all about a year ago (it used to be unhidden). Having said this, if the image you wish to upload is under a free-license (even for commercial use) or is in the public domain, you should upload it instead to the Wikimedia Commons, so that all projects have access to the image (sign up). See also Wikipedia:Uploading images and the Wikipedia:Image use policy.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 05:29, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

There are many help pages about images and I'm not sure which one you refer to. Can you give a link so we can see whether it needs an addition? PrimeHunter (talk) 14:18, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

User Reptozoid violating Wikipedia Biography of Living Persons policy

Hi,

A few months ago user Reptozoid created a Wikipedia page for Advocate Vikram Varma in Goa, India

If you check the profile

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikram_Varma

You will see Reptozoid has discussed and made allegations against one of Vikram's clients that totally violate Wikipedia policies of Biography of Living persons. He has left the following comment about a British Mother Fiona who currently has 3 minor children

" Fiona MacKeown and her children were recognized as regular drug users during the period of Scarlett's death and was reproached child neglect by the authorities. MacKeown sold TV rights of the aftermath of Scarlett Keeling to Channel 4 U.K. for a sum of 15000pounds. "

Separately, Reptozoid has used words like 'death' and 'mistress' in another case

" Tourism Minister Micky Pacheco's involvement in the death of his mistress Nadia Torado "

Note Reptozoid has never made any contribution to Wikipedia other than this profile page. He has specifically picked up a few legal cases and published what he thinks could harm the Wikipedia profile.

Please could you get one of your Editors in India or UK to look into this asap

Thanks and regards GurgaonUser (talk) 05:57, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

See ANI. This is for asking questions about how to use or edit Wikipedia. Regards.--♫GoP♫_T^C_N 10:42, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Branden Michael Alexander Hunt Jones was born August 14. 1993, in Losangeles Cali, to Donna Jones and Rodney Hunt. he is an inspiring Elite magazine model.And as of October 11, 2009 he was digital media first African American model. You can find more out about branden at his website www.brandenmodelinginc.com

EU Prize for Literature

Can you edit a bit the text on the EU Prize for Literature? There are more countries than currently on the website

• EU Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom);

• European Economic Area (EEA) countries (Liechtenstein, Norway);

• Candidate and potential candidate countries to EU membership (Croatia, Iceland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia) .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Prize_for_Literature

Thank you! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.183.58.204 (talk) 08:49, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for your suggestion regarding European Union Prize for Literature. When you feel an article needs improvement, please feel free to make those changes. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the edit this page link at the top. The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold in updating pages. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes — they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills. New contributors are always welcome. You don't even need to log in (although there are many reasons why you might want to). -- John of Reading (talk) 09:08, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Economy of England

Economy of United kingdom — Preceding unsigned comment added by Brechfor (talk • contribs) 10:19, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

If you want to move this page, then request it on WP:RM. Regards.--♫GoP♫_T^C_N 10:36, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

An article Economy of the United Kingdom (with "the") already exists; so if anything it would have to be merged. —teb728 t c 10:44, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

question about american dad! Episode list

I was looking at the episode list of the american dad! show, I noticed that the episode list and the list in comparison on imbd.com are different. The episodes and their seasons are numbered very differently on that website. I got in touch with Netflix, they had informed me that there episode list is from imbd.com, updated by fox. I was just wondering where exactly you got your episode list from? . — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.125.130.25 (talk) 11:51, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

If you can improve an article, and have a reliable source for the information you want to add or change, you are encouraged to be bold and make the change. --ColinFine (talk) 12:53, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

search for punctuation

I want to search "mistakes in English scentences ,for example,run-on scentence ,comma splice and so on"they are not limited to these two kinds,so can you give me a hand to find more? thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.206.227.131 (talk) 12:03, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

I'm sorry, I'm not clear what you are asking. The article Run-on sentence has examples, if that is what you are looking for. --ColinFine (talk) 12:59, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

One thing I have done is paste an article into an empty MS Word (or other document editor) document and run the grammar check tool on it. (If you do that, however, do not change American English to British or vice versa. Different varieties of English are equally valid. So set the language preference in Word to the variety used in the article.) —teb728 t c 13:11, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

See also:

• Common English usage misconceptions
• Disputes in English grammar
• English as a foreign or second language#Grammar

(and the many links they show).  Chzz  ►  15:09, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Perhaps it is time for a LIST article, something like "list of English grammatical errors". ~AH1 ^(discuss!) 02:30, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Illegible graph

In Kansas#Demographics, the code [[File:USA Kansas age pyramid.svg|thumb|300px|[[Population pyramid]]]] displays a double bar graph that is difficult to read, because the text between the two columns of bars is not properly scaled down. Experimenting with different image scaling, I find that the that text seems to stay the same size (although the numbers on the bottom do scale). However in pl:Kansas the same image is used in an infobox, where it displays correctly. Can anyone explain this, and suggest a reasonable way to display the graph in the English version (without using an infobox, and without displaying the graph across the whole page)? Peter Chastain (talk) 12:24, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

In the Polish article the graph is displayed at a size of 280px. It displays well here too at 280; so I changed it to that. —teb728 t c 12:58, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Awesome! Thanks. Peter Chastain (talk) 19:39, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Untitled car question

my mazda bongo will not start in the morrings & now it will not start at all, pleaSE COULD YOU HELP ME , AS I LIVE IN BRISTOL KINGSWOOD , & WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THEIR IS ANY ONE WHO COULD COME OUT TO SEE MY BONGO, OR DO YOU KNOW WHY IT WILL NOT START ? JOHN — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.220.107.6 (talk) 13:43, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 6 million articles and thought we were 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 for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right 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. --Orange Mike | Talk 14:28, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Fixing an article's page name

Hi there.

I've looked around and can't seem to find a way to update an incorrect spelling in the title of an article. The following page has it's title mispelled:

Cambridge Winterhawks

I work for the Cambridge Winter Hawks, and am charged with the task of finding ways to update the spelling from one word, to two.

If you could please assist, that would be great. Thanks!

Ecos0919 (talk) 14:53, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

I have moved it to Cambridge Winter Hawks. If you intend to make any further edits to the article, please read WP:COI. Thanks. – ukexpat (talk) 14:58, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

(edit conflict)

Hi. Welcome to Wikipedia. Your account is too new, so you cannot yet move pages to change their title.

Someone has moved it for you, to Cambridge Winter Hawks. I checked the website http://cambridgewinterhawks.ca/ and, that does indeed show it as separate words (in the text; not so much the logo).

Incidentally, when searching, you missed the FAQ at the top of this page :-) We get asked this a lot. See Wikipedia:FAQ#How do I change the name of an article?.  Chzz  ►  15:01, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

how mant air miles do I have

I have an air miles card witch I use when am asked to I have had it sence 1998 I whough like to know how many air miles I have — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.193.28.212 (talk) 17:19, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 6 million articles and thought we were 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 for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right 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. --Orange Mike | Talk 17:24, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Publishing a page

I've created a page for the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth but mistakenly the account that the article was created under contained the name of the office. I've created another account and created the same article under the new login, saved the page but i cannot see it online. Please advice. Thank you.

Liviu — Preceding unsigned comment added by Liviugeorgescu (talk • contribs) 17:57, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

You've not created an article. All that you have created is your user page. Before you try to move that to mainspace as an article, it would need some improving; in particular it doesn't currently include any references. Try reading WP:Tutorial, WP:1st, and WP:Referencing for beginners. Each of those has links to other useful pages. You have a number of inline external links, so they will need removing, and perhaps replacing by references, see WP:EL. - David Biddulph (talk) 18:04, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

More importantly, some (at least) of the material on that page appears to be a copyright violation from http://provincialadvocate.on.ca/main/en/what/ . If that isn't addressed immediately, the material (and perhaps the whole page) is liable to be deleted, as copyright violation is a serious legal matter. - David Biddulph (talk) 18:10, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Deleted as a copyvio. – ukexpat (talk) 20:11, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Help with uploads and drafts

User:Rogeredwin/Al Karim (Actor)

Hi, I am having trouble finding out how to upload a photo on my draft of new article. Also, once I have the draft ready, how do I request an editor to for advice? Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rogeredwin (talk • contribs) 18:48, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

For your image question, see WP:UPIMG, for your draft question, see WP:SYMUD. – ukexpat (talk) 19:55, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Hi, I need a reviewer to comment on my article. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rogeredwin (talk • contribs) 20:03, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

It still needs more references to establish notability. Also, note that IMDB cannot be used as a source as user-generated content cannot be used as sources.--Hallows AG (talk) 20:06, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Also, are you really the copyright holder of that photo? Looks like it was just taken from the imdb page [1]. Яehevkor ✉ 20:20, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Looking for a less garish "external media" template

Do we have anything simpler than the template shown below? I don't like how it repeats has the same picture twice at different sizes. Just want something as clean and simple as possible, but still looking "official".

External videos
Fluorine gas, impinging on several elements, causes bright flames even without a spark.

TCO (talk) 20:21, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

I'm unsure about the templates, but that video looks like a WP:LINKVIO to me. Яehevkor ✉ 20:31, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

I'm not really sure that it is a linkvio, but I found another external video that is definitely uploaded by the creator. Will replace. Would still appreciate help with the template (if we have another, slicker looking version.) TCO (talk) 00:26, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

I agree that the template would be better with less visual overkill. (I remember the fierce TfD discussions we had a couple of years ago, when equally small smiley pictures for talk pages were deleted with the argument that they used up too many resources.) But for consistency reasons, there shouldn't be different versions of what's essentially the same template. This needs to be changed in the template itself. If you bring it up at Template talk:External media and you can get consensus there, then I'd be willing to implement the change there. — Sebastian 09:03, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

OK, I will just use what we have if there is no other version. It just looks wierd. Seems like there are 3 different arrows to click "play". The two different "play arrow" icons and then the hyperlink arrow itself. On a meta point, I actually think it is good to have different versions, since we still have vast parts of wiki that are not really optimized or where we've converged on suboptimal solutoins. and having some freedom for layout and expression is useful vice firm rules (and then huge amounts of time spent debating the rules and struggling for control on them). Anyhow, total meta point and I am moving on. And I did find a much better link in all fashions, so...guess we got that. BTW, the smileys take way less juice than the cite templates....those things are fricking hogs!TCO (talk) 23:06, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Recovering edits from a userified article

The Afd'd Logging truck was moved to User:Peter Horn/logging truck. I added a history section there, but now that the article has been moved back to mainspace, it seems to have disappeared, and there's nothing in the userpage history. Can I get it back? Clarityfiend (talk) 21:27, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

People have been moving that article all around, from article space to user space and back, from title to title. Is the "History" section at User:Peter Horn/Logging truck what you want? Deor (talk) 22:18, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

That's it. Thanks. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:21, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Help with creating a table

How do I create a table for a collegiate athletics team on the right side of the page similar to UNC Women's Soccer at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unc_women%27s_soccer#cite_note-mediaguide-1 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Abwsoc (talk • contribs) 21:39, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

That's an infobox, and in that article it is Template:Infobox College Soccer Team. There are similar boxes for other collegiate sports teams, see Category:American college sports infobox templates. – ukexpat (talk) 21:53, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Question on changing page name and more

If i change a page name does it still keep all the number of watchers. And on the movie articles on the plot summary is there always a limit to adding new info to it on every movie or just certain ones. If it does not allow you to add more info to plot summary than maybe it should have a show more box like it always has on the bottom of articles so wikipedia won't be worried about it getting to big. Plus most people probably watched all notable thriller movies so by having a huge plot that contains spoilers wont hurt them especially on the see more box. A lot of movie articles have a lot more information on it than the plot like commercial analysis on Titanic (1997 film). I would love to add more plot info to King Kong (2005 film) and Mighty Joe Young (1998 film). What if I cant find any movie related plot references to back up the newly added plot info. Is it possible to list any info on the gorilla's physical traits and attributes of king kong or mighty joe young on how it could of got that colossal size like certain genome genes or hormones/ diet. Or add how fast regular gorilla monkeys move/swing and interact similar to joe or kong. Example some scientist proved that gorilla's can bench at least 2000 pounds now by comparing real gorilla's and kongs body weight and movie scenes of kong throwing stuff that that could be a clue of how heavy it was and it estimates how strong he is, is that aloud to be put into the article. The movie might not explain that stuff but what if another website did that is part of the movie makers and not just a random site. Shawn Worthington Laser Plasma (talk) 21:46, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

See Help:Moving a page. As for the plot summary, it is a good idea to keep it from getting too long, so that a reader can scan it for major points rather than all minor details. Make sure to avoid original research concerning such "facts" about a movie, as they must be sufficiently relevant and cited. ~AH1 ^(discuss!) 02:21, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Feedback

I have created a new article in my draft area but I would appreciate some feedback before thinking about going live.

You're more likely to get feedback if you tell us where the article is, or even help us find it by signing your question (use four tildes - ~~~~ - and Wikipedia will replace that by your signature. --ColinFine (talk) 23:45, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

I assume you mean User:MickPhillips/Joseph Phillips (English Actor)

It has zero references. All new biographies of living people require at lead one reference.

You might want to start with Wikipedia:Your first article in particular, Notability, as it is very important. You might also want to read WP:COI, but that's just a guess.--SPhilbrick(Talk) 00:59, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Colin,

thanks, yes your assumption was correct about my new article being User:MickPhillips/Joseph Phillips (English Actor). I have replied to the other, more extensive feedback you gave me on my other questions. I think I've added appropriate references but I've put them in the External links area, not sure how to put them in the References area.

Regards, Mick. MickPhillips (talk) 13:32, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Actually, this reply was from SPhilbrick, not me. --ColinFine (talk) 00:48, 21 December 2011 (UTC)

It's coming along but at the moment, among other things, there are too many bare external links within the text of the article. If you want to use these as references, please read WP:Referencing for beginners for assistance with correct formatting. – ukexpat (talk) 14:18, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Incorrect information

Hi
I am kumaran thirunavukkarasu and the information about me in your article his incorrect. your article says i left cricket after one year after my injury. i continued playing and even played in the ICL for the chennai superstars and got a record 6 wickets against mumbai champions in my debut.I was the best bowler for the first two ICL tournaments.so kindly do the needful to change my article.

thank you kumaran http://www.espncricinfo.com/icl2008/content/player/30157.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by Thirukumaran30 (talk • contribs) 22:55, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

I have removed that statement, as it was unsourced - but actually almost everything in the article is unsourced. --ColinFine (talk) 23:53, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

See BLP Policy. It is always a good idea to provide reliable sources especially for such biography articles. ~AH1 ^(discuss!) 02:18, 20 December 2011 (UTC)