Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2011 March 15

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March 15

How do I move a stub to the main body text?

I wrote a brief description of a place called Truckhaven. My contribution appears, but as a stub in the lower text frame. How do I move it to the main body text area? I have worked in the area for years and I have images and such to add, but this is my first post and I don't want to go any further until I understand the protocols. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Brocluno (talk • contribs) 00:21, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi Brocluno, your first edit and a good one. I have moved the content to the main part of the article, which you can view here. I think you would get some benefit out of taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial. By the way, can you possibly point to the references you used to expand that entry? Information on Wikipedia is best added by also providing the source of the information so that readers are able to verify the information. There's lots of information on how to cite sources at WP:CITE (and see also Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners). Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 00:36, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

OK - I'll look into that. I've worked in the area for years. I'm still accumulating citations and referneces. I'll expand on it as time permits :) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Brocluno (talk • contribs) 18:10, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

check on word frequently encountered (cricket)

I randomly went to Mogens Christiansen link. I was about to correct "dimissed" as I presume it is "dismissed". However, for whatever reason, when I search for the "typo" I find many occurrences. SO, either it is fine as is, or perhaps there's a more efficient way to find&fix all the spots to change?--Billymac00 (talk) 00:39, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

It's "dismissed", not "dimissed". A check of five or six cricketer articles with the typo (which I found through the "search" function) shows that they were all written by the same person, rather than being reflective of a widespread alternative spelling. Bencherlite^Talk 00:43, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

well, I see 69 places, so must fix one by one?

If the same user made all the typos, you could ask that user to clean up his or her own mess. --Teratornis (talk) 01:04, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

For tools that may help, see links under WP:EIW#Spell. --Teratornis (talk) 01:09, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

If a Governor was Impeached........

I would like to know if a Governor was impeached and went to trial, found guilty, but the charges were later dropped, can that person be reinstated? May they rerun for the office in which they were impeached from? I don't remember that being discussed in school history/government classes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mother449 (talk • contribs) 01:13, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Have you tried the Miscellaneous section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there; this help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia. For your convenience, here is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 01:17, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Lori_Rom

Could someone please clean up the article about little known actress called Lori_Rom? Thanks! Neptunekh2 (talk) 01:31, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

This is the second time that you've asked this here. You've also asked on my talk page. Is there something that you don't know how to do yourself that you need help with? Is there something specific about the page that you'd like fixed? You have many contributions here, so you seem to know how to edit. What is stopping you from doing the "clean up" that you are looking for from one of us? Dismas|^(talk) 02:54, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

forgot password

I've forgotten my password. How do I request it to be sent to me.98.110.81.139 (talk) 02:49, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

On the log in screen, click on "Email a new password". If your email is not set up, I do not think there is a way to retrive this information. Sumsum2010·T·C 03:26, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

That's correct; see here. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:55, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Subscribing to a category

Is there any good way to subscribe (RSS or whatever) to a category to see when articles are added to or removed from said category? Or would I have to use a bot? /Julle (talk) 03:04, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi Julle. I only know of one way to monitor the content of categories and I find the ability invaluable. I'm not 100% sure this will work in the vector skin (I use Monobook) Anyway, this tool will add category changes to your watchlist. Go to your personal JS and add the code importScript('User:ais523/catwatch.js'); Then create the page User:Julle/WatchedCategories.js. Place there

var WatchedCategories=new Array(
 
 // Place categories in this list. There should be a comma in all rows
 // but the last; make sure the names start with a capital letter, have
 // the correct case for all other letters, and don't have Category:
 // before them. This watchlist cannot be kept private (that is, other
 // users will be able to tell which categories you are watching).
 //
 // After editing this list (either for the first time or if you change
 // it later on) you will need to bypass your cache.
 
 "Name of category (do not prefix "category")",
 "Next category name",
 "Last category name has no comma"

 );

Make sure to then bypass your cache. Note that many user who have tried this needed to log out and restart their browsers before it would work, even after bypassing the cache.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:50, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

P.S. this apparently does not play well with Internet Explorer; if you do use that, dumping all your temporary internet files may get it to work.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:57, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Thanks! I'll try it and see if it works. I don't use IE if I can avoid it. /Julle (talk) 03:59, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Good luck.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:07, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

I just added this tool and I find it to be wonderful!Naraht (talk) 17:18, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Confirming a user is the subject of the article

I can't seem to find the email address needed (or the WP page that describes the process) to confirm that an editor is the subject of an article. I thought it was at WP:CONTACT but that doesn't seem to be the right place. It gets close with the info about submitting a photo of an article subject but that's not quite what I'm looking for. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks, Dismas|^(talk) 03:07, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Perhaps, contact the user in question, and ask for their honest awnser(with references, if available).Sumsum2010·T·C 03:28, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

For which purpose do you want confirmation that the editor is the subject? Possible methods or whether it's relevant at all depends on the purpose. For example whether it's only you who wants to know or whether the identity should be officially recorded somewhere for copyright or other reasons. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:59, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

un-submit

Hi, I have been creating an article in a subpage as a draft, although I have recently noticed it has gone live. I'm still working on the draft which is not ready for prime time. How do I take it back to a draft subpage version that is not accessible by the general public? Kind regards Jennifer M OConnor 04:37, 15 March 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jennifer M OConnor (talk • contribs)

All non-deleted pages are visible to everyone. User:Jennifer M OConnor/Neal Ashkanasy is still a user subpage draft. If you don't want it to be indexed by search engines like Google then place {{NOINDEX}} on it. If you want it to be deleted completely and work offline on the draft instead then place {{db-u1}} on it. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:49, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

This location is wrong for this article though most of the facts are correct.

http://wikimapia.org/15880372/Tim-Horton-039-s-Fatal-Crash-Site

It is not possible to have been the actual sight where Tim Hortons crashed as this stretch of highway was not built and opened until the early 80's. The article wasprotected content and there was no area to contribute to a discussion. My kid was doing a school project on him and was going to use the info thats the only reason I saw it. I rode my motorcycle there until 1980 and it was a dirt trail at that time —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.201.215.209 (talk) 05:47, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

WikiMapia is not a project run by the Wikimedia Foundation which operates Wikipedia. There are many many wikis that are not Wikipedia. Our article on Tim Horton does not give any map location for his death. Nanonic (talk) 06:59, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

What to do about defamatory comments by a user

Resolved

I have had defamatory comments made on my discussion page by the user User:Tkircher. He has also made defamatory statements in edit comments. It appears that it started because he had not heard the term Inslamist, and was comparing it to calling people Christianists. He has since extended it to claim that I am "spewing ethnocentric nonsense", and ironically writing articles bigoted against Hinduism, despite the fact that I am a Hindu and have been awarded a barnstar for these articles. How should I handle this type of user? -- Q Chris (talk) 10:04, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Technical questions are so much easier than behavioural questions! If you don't get a good answer here, you could try Wikipedia:Wikiquette alerts. -- John of Reading (talk) 13:25, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll mark as resolved here and move there -- Q Chris (talk) 13:34, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

kindly answer my doubt please

• HI*

> *I uploaded an article " Nandukavalam" in wifi pedia.com.* > *it says like this every time i open the web page as follows-* > *his article is about a living person and appears to have no references. If > no references are found and added within a ten-day grace period it may be > deleted <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:BLPPROD>. This is to help > prevent incorrect material remaining.* > But it already has REFERENCES by readers and reputed personalities in the > world. > Why still it shows the article will be deleted in 10 days time? It has > references. It has 3 references.? > > -- > Nandu Kavalam > Scripts & Production > Asianet Radio 657 AM, > Dubai, UAE —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.132.40.163 (talk) 12:44, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi, please see Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners. The article currently provides no references backing up any statement made in its content. You should also read WP:BLP as articles about living people have tougher guidelines on whether an article is allowed and can be kept. Thanks. CaptRik (talk) 12:57, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

The article has now been deleted as unambiguous advertising. -- John of Reading (talk) 13:04, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

List of new pages created by user

How do I get a list of new pages created by a user. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions doesn't seem clear on this and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:NewPages only goes back one month. -- Uzma Gamal (talk) 12:49, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

At the bottom of the "User contributions" page there is a link named "Articles created". The tool has various other options available. -- John of Reading (talk) 12:56, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Just to add you need to have entered a user name on the contribution page first before the link appears. MilborneOne (talk) 12:59, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Amazingly, I have never seen that infobox. Thanks. -- Uzma Gamal (talk) 13:02, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Name for Wiki source text

When I edit a Wikipedia page, I am presented with text in the edit window. What is the proper name for the text that I see in the Wikipedia text editor? Please tell me where the name is documented. Jc3s5h (talk) 14:24, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

The Wikipedia:Glossary seems to call this the "wikitext of the article". The language is "Wiki markup", and there's an article and a help page about it. -- John of Reading (talk) 14:42, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. I notice that none of these make a clear distinction between the markup elements (for example, <ref>) and the ordinary language that expresses the information content of the page. Nor is there any clear statement that no such distinction exists and a term such as wikitext applies equally to both. I think clear definitions would help in giving instructions in many situations. Jc3s5h (talk) 15:26, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

You might be interested in Wikipedia:WikiProject Usability/Reducing interface complexity.  Chzz  ►  16:42, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Simple way to flip a picture

Is there a simple way to flip a picture, without having to edit it in an external program, i.e. a parameter that flips a displayed image? In the article New Horizons#Key mission dates, in the first column of the table there is an arrow symbol and I want to have the arrow point in the opposite direction. Is there a single parameter for that? Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 14:27, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

I don't think this can be done without uploading a new image. It would be easier to choose a matching pair of images from commons:Category:Arrow icons, perhaps File:Fairytale left.png and File:Fairytale right.png. -- John of Reading (talk) 14:47, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Ok I chose another image and this works well. However I wonder why such a feature does not exist, as I would expect (I might be wrong) that this is a common issue. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 14:59, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

My entry was deleted

I added the book The Unschooling Unmanual (ISBN 0968575455) which was co-edited by my son and me, and published by our organization The Natural Child Project, to the "Further Reading" section of the "Unschooling" page. However, it has been deleted. This book is well-known and well-regarded by unschoolers, and just as relevant as the other book listed there. Could you please let me know how this book can be added?

Thank you for your help.

Jan Hunt Janhunt (talk) 15:47, 15 March 2011 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.87.230.212 (talk) 15:39, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

I am not sure why the editor that removed it, did so, but if I were to see it I would have removed it also because you have an obvious conflict of interest. When someone who has a vested interest in a link that they are adding, it looks like they are using Wikipedia to advertise their product and that is not allowed. I would suggest going to the talk page and proposing it to be added and let other editors review it and see if they believe it belongs in the article. GB fan (talk) 15:53, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

You have a long history (dating back to 2005) of editing here in order to advertise yourself, your organization, and your work. I just want to remind you yet again of our stance on using Wikipedia to advertise, on conflict of interest, and on autobiography. --Orange Mike | Talk 16:03, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for your help. I don't know what a talk page is. Could you give me a link?

Jan — Preceding unsigned comment added by Janhunt (talk • contribs) 16:05, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

The talk page of the article Unschooling would be Talk:Unschooling. --Orange Mike | Talk 16:09, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

You usually find the discussion page of an article by clicking the 'Discussion' tab above the article title. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 16:16, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Looks like they found it.  Chzz  ►  16:36, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

History of the surname Maqhubu and the Dlamini clan

Can someone please tell me more about Prince Maqhubu Dlamini. Who was he and who are his descendants? What links do the people who use the surname Maqhubu and use Dlamini as their clan name have to him?

What is the history of the Maqhubu surname? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 155.234.240.16 (talk) 16:37, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 3.5 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.  Chzz  ►  16:43, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

The people at the Humanities Reference Desk might be able to answer your question. Just klick on the blue link to get there. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 16:49, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

A suggestion for correcting broken links - a bug perhaps

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Godhra_train_burning#A_suggestion_for_correcting_broken_links_-_a_bug_perhaps

Hi,

I have noticed a rather annoying occurrence of absence of links, when some section is removed when the link is mentioned in the removed section and the same link is referenced at other place in the article. Correcting such links becomes cumbersome and that is why I will not correct the last change I could have done easily.

Therefore I would like to suggest if this can be taken by developers of the content system, and as a first step I would suggest that when such a change is done, the entire link can be either placed at bottom of the article with references in the link or moved to the next occurrence of the link.

Thanks. 180.188.234.147 (talk) 18:46, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

You consistently say "link" but I suspect you are referring to named references as in <ref name="name"> ... </ref>. Is that the case? There actually is at least one bot capable of detecting and fixing this. See User:AnomieBOT/docs/OrphanReferenceFixer, and [1] for an example. It may take some time before the bot does something and I don't know how often it's fixed. I don't know how the bot works but it may test articles in Category:Pages with broken reference names. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:53, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

To the questioner: your question will make more sense if you link to a particular diff. For example, in the Godhra train burning article you mention above, this diff shows an edit by IP user 210.89.52.123 that Wikipedia's MediaWiki software tagged with "references removed" (visible as a small text comment on the right side of the revision's entry on the history page). The diffs that may have prompted this question are here and here. IP user 180.188.234.180 (possibly the questioner?) removed some text that contained a named reference, then another user reverted the change with an edit summary asking for people who remove text to restore any named references they break. Wikipedia's rudimentary "system" for handling references can make for some awkward editing. It would be nice if the Wikipedia Usability Initiative could give us a magical bibliographic database that would make reference maintenance one-click easy. (I'm not holding my breath.) --Teratornis (talk) 23:46, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi,

I am almost sure such a facility is doable, especially in content system. From my side, I have first hand experience and I can only say that with time this can be done

You can say that one-click maintenance of references is magical but technology can make it happen. Thats how technology is - magical! 210.89.52.52 (talk) 14:48, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

Adding pictures

Hey. I would like some help on how to add photos to articles on Wikipedia. I've tried adding one but it didn't work, so any help would be greatly appriciated. Thanks, Tpxpress (talk) 19:30, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

• If you want to add an existing image to an article, add [[File:File name.jpg|thumb|Caption text.]] to the area of the article where you want the image to appear – replacing File name.jpg with the actual file name of the image, and Caption text with a short description of the image. See our picture tutorial for more information.
• If you want to upload an image from your computer for use in an article, you must determine the proper license of the image (or whether it is in the public domain). If you know the image is public domain or copyrighted but under a suitable free-license, upload it to the Wikimedia Commons instead of here, so that all projects have access to the image (sign up). If you are unsure of the licensing status, see the file upload wizard for more information. Please also read Wikipedia's image use policy. I hope this helps. --Mysdaao ^talk 19:43, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Please tell us exactly what you mean by "I've tried adding one." What photo, where did you find it, who created it, how old is it, and what does it depict? There is a huge difference between adding a photo that is already on Wikipedia to an article, vs. uploading a photo that is not here yet. Even photos that are already here may not be freely usable in multiple articles, due to fair use criteria that limit a particular copyrighted photo to a particular article. Images can be a nightmare of complexity on Wikipedia, reflecting the underlying nightmare of copyright law. If you live in a country that allows people to vote, please vote to abolish copyright law so we can make Wikipedia simpler for non-lawyers to edit. --Teratornis (talk) 23:53, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

LOL. In the U.S., although copyright isn't a constitutional right, the power to create laws to protect intellectual property is imbedded in the constitution: Copyright Clause. And what makes you think it's simple even for lawyers? :-) --Bbb23 (talk) 00:03, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

help changing title of my article

I am having trouble modifying the title of my biographical article from "User: my name/Enter your new article name here" to the name of the subject. Jordan Ahlers (talk) 19:55, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

 Done Roger (talk) 19:59, 15 March 2011 (UTC)