Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2011 October 17

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October 17

Dutch

At the bottom of my talk page, the text, "Citefout: De tag <ref> bestaat, maar de tag <references/> is niet aangetroffen" appeared recently, which means, "Cite error: The tag <ref> exists, but the <references/> tag was not found" in Dutch. Does anyone know why this is there, why it is in Dutch, or how it can be removed? If so, thanks, and happy editing! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fltyingpig (talk • contribs)

That was odd. It disappeared when I purged the page but it shouldn't have been there at all. The ref tags are in User talk:Fltyingpig/Archives/ 1/Archives/ 1/Archives/ 1/Archives/ 1#Did you mean to revert me?, but the error message should be in English and should not be displayed in that namespace. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:04, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

The message is what a user should see in mainspace if they select "nl - Nederlands" at Special:Preferences#mw-input-wplanguage. I don't know how it got to a user talk page for people with English selected. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:20, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

I think I figured it out. The English error message is coded at MediaWiki:Cite error refs without references to only display in mainspace, but the foreign language versions show in all namespaces for users who have selected a foreign language at Special:Preferences#mw-input-wplanguage. The page must have been viewed and gotten cached by a user who had "nl - Nederlands" selected, and for some reason the cached Dutch version was displayed to all users until I purged the page. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:30, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Just in case somebody with settings for another languages causes this to happen again, you can fix it by displaying the references. Since it's a talk page, any references are likely to be part of examples or demonstrations and not relevant to the page as a whole, so it's probably best to display the refs within the relevant section. I suggest adding a {{reflist|close=1}} at the bottom of the User talk:Fltyingpig/Archives/ 1/Archives/ 1/Archives/ 1/Archives/ 1#Did you mean to revert me? section. --Redrose64 (talk) 09:58, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Bending The Rules In Certain Medical Articles?

Basically, I'm wondering if theres anything in place that would make it appropriate to put some things in such articles, even if a source cant be found? Specifically, I'm wondering about Panic (though other mental illness articles might have the same issue.) While panic attacks peak at 10 minutes, I worry about the Panic Disorder page's reporting of that. Because if one visits that page in the middle of an hour long panic (or someone whos trying to help a panicing person) that might give a really wrong impression.

But its very difficult, if they exist at all, to find sources that say the panic attacks can set new ones off very rapidly, resulting in what appears to be an endless chain of the anxiety. Since people in panic have and do freak out to the point of emergency room visits, I figure there must be a protocol in place to prevent the people who are worried get the wrong impression, since that seems like itd almost definitely set off yet another attack.

I feel it is something that would be of great help, but it would violate the rules if I did. So I'm just at a loss for what to do or whats okay to do. 74.132.249.206 (talk) 04:24, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Panic Disorder#Signs and symptoms currently says: "Panic disorder sufferers usually have a series of intense episodes of extreme anxiety during panic attacks. These attacks typically last about ten minutes, but can be as short-lived as 1–5 minutes and last as long as twenty minutes or until medical intervention. However, attacks can wax and wane for a period of hours (panic attacks rolling into one another), and the intensity and specific symptoms of panic may vary over the duration."

Isn't that close to what you suggest? Anyway, we shouldn't break sourcing rules in attempts to give medical advice, and as Wikipedia:Medical disclaimer says: "WIKIPEDIA DOES NOT GIVE MEDICAL ADVICE". See also Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not#Wikipedia is not censored. Some people may be shocked by seeing images of nudity in an article about nudity. Our content is not controlled by concerns about the potential reaction of some readers. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:47, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

I want to make a short comment about one article.

Hi:

I am a frequent user of Wikipedia for information and have happily never contributed up until this point.

But I read one article where I feel an obvious point is being overlooked and I want to comment once.

To wit, the Burning of Washington article presents at the beginning what seems a rational justification for the burning of Washington and at the ends notes that the Europeans didn't buy it. They condemned the burning of Washington.

Nobody seems to ask or answer what IMO is the obvious question -- why didn't the Europeans buy the justification? I would like to post the question and provide what I think is the obvious answer. But, I'm not wedded to my answer. I just want to pose the question and people can trample all over my answer if they wish.

I appreciate that a massive enterprise like this needs structure and rules. But even the help sections are overwhelming for someone who thinks he has a contribution to make and wants to stick his toe in the water.

Is there someway to make the comment I want to make? I'd be grateful for any assistance.

Please excuse my ID. I unsuccessfully tried about 20 before I hit on one that I could remember and no one would have chosen.

Thanks for any assistance. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Abigpainintheass (talk • contribs) 05:41, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

You could bring this up at one of two places:

• The article's talk page, Talk:Burning of Washington: The best place for discussing changes to an article. People who are interested in the subject and watching the page will be notified of a change. The disadvantage of this is that only those people who work on the article will see it and many talk page comments never get responded to or take days/weeks to be responded to.
• The Humanities Reference Desk: Many people visit this desk to ask and answer questions. They can provide referenced answers to questions. But a change to the article doesn't always happen.

Hope this helps... Dismas|^(talk) 07:52, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Reference Question

I've been working on Hobart Area Transportation Study and I'm having difficulty in citing sources. One of my major sources is the "Hobart Area Transportation Study" of 1986 by Wilbour and Associates. I can't find a copy to look at online, but rather library listings (eg. 1, 2 and 3) so I don't believe citing those webpages is reliable. I've been trying to cite it as a book as its readily available at the local libray (and several others in AU but I've noticed all Books require ISBNs on the template. How do I cite this and several other government publications I know of? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wiki ian (talk • contribs) 07:03 (UTC), 17 October 2011‎

You can leave the ISBN blank - it is not mandatory. Roger (talk) 08:10, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Lawyers Capacity

Does a lawyer has a right to broke into my house and away with all my properties without court order because am owing him a sum of eleven thousand naira house rent — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.203.64.128 (talk) 10:41, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia does not give legal advice. - David Biddulph (talk) 10:43, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

• Why not try to find the answer in Wikipedia? I searched for Break and enter, but unfortunately the informatipn is limited to countries in North America and Europe. The category Category:Criminal_law_by_country may contain more information about other countries. Ottawahitech (talk) 15:53, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

deleted editing

so i made an account and stuff then added one line of information to a pre existing article two minutes later i got a message saying hope you had fun experimenting and that it had been deleted . why has it been deleted ? and how do i add information without it being deleted or categorized as experimenting ?? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sammaybebs (talk • contribs) 10:53, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

The reason for its deletion was presumably that it didn't comply with the requirements of Wikipedia:WikiProject Days of the year, in that entries on a list such as October 20 should be to existing Wikipedia articles. It would have been helpful if the editor who reverted your edit had given the reason, either in the edit summary or on your talk page. - David Biddulph (talk) 11:05, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

My apologies, David is right in that I should have given a more complete reason. As he points out, per WP:DOY: "Only the births and deaths of people who are themselves subjects of Wikipedia articles should be listed." I hope this clears up the reason for the revert. Yunshui (talk) 11:55, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

PLEOMORPHIC ANAPLASTIC NEUROBLASTOMA

Hi!!May I ask if my new article entitled "Pleomorphic anaplastic neuroblastoma" that I have completed just a few minutes ago and saved several times has been actually saved and included in the encyclopedia? I ould like to be sure about that. Thank you --Clafo (talk) 11:41, 17 October 2011 (UTC)Clafo--Clafo (talk) 11:41, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

You'll see your edits at Special:Contributions/Clafo, so the answer is no, you didn't save it. And please stop SHOUTING in your topic headings, and please enclose them in -- separators to make them section headings. - David Biddulph (talk) 11:47, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

I have completely reformatted the article, changing your "homemade" footnotes into actual footnotes using one of Wikipedia's referencing systems. If you read Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners you should comprehend what I did, and be able to continue from there.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:46, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Archive bot use

How do I request a bot to come around to my talk page to archive the old stuff? Is a three month interval apropriate for the level of activity on the page? Roger (talk) 14:49, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

There is a guide on how to set up archiving at User:MiszaBot/Archive HowTo. Does that help? Regarding the archiving interval, that mostly depends on personal preference. For example I decided to keep my talk page rather short, but you are free to set it to any interval that you feel is appropriate on your own talk page. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 14:58, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Btw, aside from MiszaBot, there are also other bots capable of archiving user talk pages (see Category:Wikipedia archive bots) for a full list, but I think MiszaBot is the most widely used of those bots. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 20:42, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Resolved

Thanks! Roger (talk) 09:07, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

Confirm e-mail address - fails - invalid code?

Resolved

 – User:Thegallery now has email enabled so this must be resolved. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:22, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

I have tried to confirm my email but when I click the link in the email from Wikipedia it leads me to a page that says:

Confirm email address Invalid confirmation code. The code may have expired.

Obviously this doesn't do me much good and I have no idea how to resolve this and finish confirming my address. I'm using Windows 7 and IE9

Please advise. Thanks! Thegallery (talk) 16:17, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Some email programs may break the confirmation link into two lines. If that happens, please copy all parts of the link together into the browser address bar. If you still have problems then you can post the confirmation link here for examination. Do not post your email address or account password. They cannot be seen from the confirmation link and we don't need them. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:02, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

about bharat ratna

sir the information between hindi and english language are different about BHARAT RATNA in english version of website the information about first awardee was MR. C. RAJGOPALCHARI but in HINDI version there are displaying the first awardee of bharat ratna was MR. SARVEPALLI RADHAKRISHANAN. so i request YOU please correct these error and provide correct answer about first awardee of BHARAT RATNA(gem of india) thank you

your redear

17-10-2011 shivam mishra jhansi up india — Preceding unsigned comment added by 223.179.234.250 (talk) 16:48, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Three people received the Bharat Ratna award in the first year 1954. There are different claims about who was first. http://india.gov.in/myindia/myindia_frame.php?id=12 says it was Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, the one 1954 awardee not mentioned in your post. Some sources indicate they were all considered first with no internal order. I suspect this is true and other sources have made false assumptions based on some random order the three original awardees were mentioned somewhere. http://india.gov.in/myindia/bharatratna_awards_list1.php has a list of all awardees but they are not numbered and the listing order of the first three (starting with Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan) may not signify anything. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:36, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Odd text in AFD log

Today's AFD log has a piece of text as follows:

This page was created as part of a proposed split that was limited by consensus. The information contained here duplicates information contained in other articles.

between two discussions. Where does this text originate? The code for the page is currently

{{Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Weeds Characters: Agrestic Area}}
{{Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of fictional anarchists}}

with no text between the two discussions, and the text in question does not appear in either of the discussions. How can we remove it? Nyttend (talk) 17:56, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

I got it. Give me a minute. UltraExactZZ ^Said ~ Did 18:02, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

 Done. The reason that line showed up is because that line was the entire nomination at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Weeds Characters: Agrestic Area. I've added the afd2 template and formatted the debate (here). I think that fixed it. UltraExactZZ ^Said ~ Did 18:06, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Ahh, oops. I didn't observe that the discussion appearing just above the anarchists was the quarry, not the weeds. Thanks. Nyttend (talk) 18:12, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Alan j morgan

I tried to edit a wiki and it was about a living person. You have put in place constraints to rpotect people. Fine. Some of the content of my edit has been included after validation. This means that the info. is already out there but it has also completely changed the sense of what I was trying to say. There was no warning to this effect, indeed,if I'd know what the final version was to look like then I'd have withdrawn the insertion. I have found it impossible to complain about this in any other part of this website on ones Wikipedia i.e.it is in practical terms impossible to complain or feedback experience. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Alan j morgan (talk • contribs) 18:11, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Umm, according to your contributions, you've never edited except to ask this question. Your deleted contributions are nonexistent as well. What page were you trying to edit? Nyttend (talk) 18:14, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

You may have been editing another wiki not connected to the Wikipedias and the Wikimedia Foundation as your global contributions also show that you have no other edits but on here. Though the article Alan J. Morgan does not exist, it sounds like you were trying to write about yourself. This is strongly discouraged for the same reasons you've given above. No one owns any article on Wikipedia and it is forbidden to promote anything (especially yourself, your own ideas or beliefs, or your own products or company). What matters most is verifiability. Wikipedia is also not a directory, a social site for personal profiles, a resume, a blog, or a personal site to express an individual opinion. see Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not -- Obsidi♠n Soul 18:46, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Your account was created 22 minutes before your post here so I wonder whether you edited some page before making the account or with another account. It's impossible to evaluate your case without seeing your edits. In case you actually edited the English Wikipedia, below the Save page button is this text: "If you do not want your writing to be edited, used, and redistributed at will, then do not submit it here." PrimeHunter (talk) 20:23, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Gail Sheridan, actor

Your information about the 1930s actor Gail Sheridan is partly incorrect. She was born Shirley Mingins in Seattle, Washingotn, January 11, 1916, to Royall Wood Mingins and Fay Mitchell Kear. Your list of film credits is correct. She was twice married, the first time to Alexander Sloan Nibley. They had a son, Philip Royall Nibley (later Katcher {myself]). They divorced in 1947, and a year later she married David Abraham Katcher in Washington in 1948 and they had a daughter Katherine Liza Katcher (later Kravik) in New York, April 1, 1948. She later became an occupational therapist and died in Chevy Chase, Maryland, September 27, 1982. As I say, I'm her son and have all this data. You can reach me at <blanked> — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.230.24.232 (talk) 18:41, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Hello and thank you for writing. Has any of the information you possess been published in third-party sources? Wikipedia does not generally accept original research. If it has been published elsewhere, we can work with you on updating the article. TNXMan 18:52, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Please know that we can only use sourced information that can be verified independently. "Personal knowledge" is unreliable and impossible to verify by its nature and thus can not be used as references.

If you can provide a newspaper, a book, or other reliable sources that can verify the information you just gave, it would be more useful. Also realize that Wikipedia is built entirely by ordinary users like you (and me), you can actually edit the page and correct the information yourself provided that you can provide a reliable source to back it up.-- Obsidi♠n Soul 18:52, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia down for 2 days - but only for me!

For the last 2 days I have been unable to access Wikipedia. My browser times out after a few minutes with its usual "website unavailable" message. During this period, I suffered no issues with any other site.

I tried: -

1. Clearing my cache 2. Clearing my cache and rebooting my browser 3. Clearing my cache, shutting down my browser, rebooting the computer, rebooting my modem & wireless router 4. Using 4 separate browsers (Safari, Firefox, Chrome & Opera) 5. Accessing via 2 different computers (Apple Mac G5 running Mac OS 10.5.8 and Acer Aspire One running Windows 7) 6. Accessing many different pages in Wikipedia, Wikipedia Commons and WikiSpecies. 7. Deleting Wikipedia cookies

Nothing worked to resolve the issue.

During this period I was able to access Wikipedia using my Blackberry through the same wifi and modem!

I just tried again and Wiki popped up with no lag at all. Googling showed hundreds of reports of similar behaviour but no sensible suggestions for a work-around. Has anyone else come across this problem and, more to the point, has anyone got any suggestions if it happens again.

Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.25.211.106 (talk) 18:48, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

I was unable to access Wikipedia between 12:00 (UTC) yesterday and 10:30 (UTC) today. It may be relevant that my ISP is the same as yours, Virgin Media. -- John of Reading (talk) 18:58, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Ah yes, there's news coverage of a Virgin Media problem. -- John of Reading (talk) 19:03, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

If it happens again try the secure version which is hosted on different servers and often works when the main site is down, or... find a new ISP! SmartSE (talk) 21:54, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

web question

Every since I got this phone it has been a great phone but today around 2 pm it said something about it being restricted and I don't understand why. Can u please help me out and tell me why? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.54.83.224 (talk) 20:36, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

You appear to think we would know which phone you refer to. Therefore I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 3.7 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. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:42, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Incorrect image of person: how to replace?

On biography of Thomas B. Kay, the author used a photo of the subject's father, Thomas L. Kay, not the correct person. I have placed a correct image on wikicommons. How can the incorrect image be replaced with the correct one: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Thomas_Benjamin_Kay.jpg — Preceding unsigned comment added by July Edwards (talk • contribs) 21:08, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

I have made the edit for you. Click that link to see what I did. -- John of Reading (talk) 21:16, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

TRIED TO REPAIR BLIND LINK...... in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Higby_Schweitzer

... in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Higby_Schweitzer Reference number 4. ^ Clabby, Catherine (2007-04-13). "T. rex remains yield new treasure". News &Observer. Retrieved 2007-05-04.[dead link], in and I found the solution, but I do not seem to find the way to edit the References. Here is solution: 4. T. Rex Remains Yield New Treasure April 13, 2007 By Catherine Clabby, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C. Apr. 13–N.C. State University paleontologist Mary Higby Schweitzer struck scientific gold when she found soft tissue in a dinosaur fossil. Molecules never before observed survived 68 million years in that goo, Harvard University scientists revealed Thursday. The discovery of protein fragments breaks open a new way to research extinct animals and fill in blanks on the tree of life. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/900663/t_rex_remains_yield_new_treasure/index.html

Gracias. — Preceding unsigned comment added by TManningWriterCo (talk • contribs) 22:49, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

You have to edit the section where the reference is used. In this case it is the lead section which can be edited by clicking the "Edit" tab at top of the page. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:59, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

I have removed your email address to protect your privacy. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:30, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

TRANSLATE WIKIPEDIA IN SINDHI LANGUAGE

WHY THIS WEBSITE NOT TRANSLATED IN SINDHI LANGUAGE — Preceding unsigned comment added by 182.182.12.97 (talk) 23:35, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Sindhi Wikipedia: [1]. AndyTheGrump (talk) 23:43, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Hakim Din Muhammad Junejo (Akram Borirai ) Sindh

HAKIM DIN MUHAMAD JUNEJO WAS BORN IN A LITTLE VILLAGE NAMED BORIRI DISTRICT DADU SINDH PAKISTAN ON 25TH FEBURARY 1936. HE PASSED HIS VERNACULAR EXAMINATION NAMED SINDHI FINAL IN THE YEAR 1952 GOVERNMENT PRIMARY SCHOOL DADU.HE WAS POET AND WROTE MANY BOOKS OF POETRY IN SINDHI.OUT OF WHICH 7 BOOKS HAS BEEN PUBLISHED IN HIS LIFE.SOME BOOKS ARE AS UNDER: 1.AKHIYOON PASI AAIYOON. 2.NISORO-E-NOOR.HE HAS DIED ON 30 OCTOMBER 2009 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 182.182.12.97 (talk) 23:50, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

This page is for questions about how to use or edit Wikipedia. You appear not to be asking a question. AndyTheGrump (talk) 23:56, 17 October 2011 (UTC)