Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2011 October 27

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October 27

creating a thumbnail of a previous version of an image

I would like to post a thumbnail of a previous version of an image and cannot find out how to do it. I can post a bare link to it but would like the thumbnail to be visible to provide a comparison to the latest version - it is regarding a discussion of changes to be made to the colours (which do not show all that well in very small thumbs). Can this be done, or do the restrictions against outside images prevent this entirely? Thanks!NiD.29 (talk) 05:10, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

This is not possible. Only the current version of an image can be displayed. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:01, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

I suspected as much but wanted to be sure - thanks!NiD.29 (talk) 13:05, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Installing a wikipedia page for Semantic Designs: notability?

I am user:idbaxter. I am not an expert wikipedia user or editor.

I made a request at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:HJ_Mitchell/Archive_61#Installing_a_wikipedia_page_for_Semantic_Designs:_notability.3F

It was originally on HJ_Mitchell's talk page. Now it has been archived. I received no identifiable response from him, yet the Wikipedia "create article page" seemed to indicate I should consult with him first over a deleted article I might wish to create. Did it get lost? Ignored? Dropped for some reason? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Idbaxter (talk • contribs) 06:56, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

List of Theraphosidae species error i'm unable to edit.

Under the list of Theraphosidae species (contents numbered 7) subfamily Poecilotheriinae a species in listed as Poecilotheria Nallamalaiensis I made an edit in the main article Poecilotheriinae under the species list stating:

P. formosa is the same species as P. nallamalaiensis. P. formosa was described by Pocock in 1899, while P. nallamalaiensis was described by Rao et al. in 2006, making P. formosa the older name and thus the senior synonym, and the valid name. GABRIEL, R. 2010. Poecilotheria nallamalaiensis Rao et al., 2006, a junior synonym of Poecilotheria formosa Pocock, 1899

Their is no specific article on this subspecies. But as it is listed as a duplicate I think the unclickable hyperlink should be removed from the list. For some reason of another I can't seem to figure out how to do it. For the "list of Theraphosidae species" Or the "Poecilotheriinae" main article.

If necessary species identification descriptions can be found in the world spider catalog. http://research.amnh.org/iz/spiders/catalog/THERAPHOSIDAE.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.239.142.44 (talk) 07:02, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

The section contains the code {{Poecilotheria Species}}. This means it is transcluding the template called Template:Poecilotheria Species. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:55, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Just want to make it clear that you can edit Template:Poecilotheria Species. Roger (talk) 08:50, 28 October 2011 (UTC)

How do i enter a charter service

I would like to up load my company service details on to a certain page, for the Thames. Please can you tell me how

Many Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.187.102.241 (talk • contribs) 08:12, 27 October 2011‎

I'm not sure what you mean by "load my company service details", but if it means that you wish to put information about your company onto Wikipedia for promotional purposes, then the answer is that you can't. Wikipedia is not a medium for promotion or advertising. JamesBWatson (talk) 08:15, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

See also Wikipedia:FAQ/Organizations. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:45, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Being a Software Engineer

Being a Software Engineer what is the 1) User level requirement(s) 2) Functional requirement(s) 3) Non functional requirements(s) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 182.177.107.132 (talk) 10:38, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

We have an article about software engineers.

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer just about any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:45, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

The help desk is to ask questions about how to use or edit Wikipedia. The place to ask questions about software in general is Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing. I will give you a few hints about using Wikipedia talk pages, the help desk, and the Reference desk:

Start a new question at the bottom of the page, and give it a heading, like this:

==Software engineering question==

At the end of your question, sign your post with four tildes, like this: ~~~~

That will cause your IP address, the date, and the time to be listed at the end of your question.

To save effort, let me try to answer your question. A user level requirement is related to a person who is using software. For example, it might be a requirement that a user be allowed to cut and paste long numbers, rather than having to type them with the keyboard. A functional requirement is about the functions that the software must perform. For example, it might be required to correctly calculate sales tax for every province and city in a certain country. A non-functional requirement would be anything that isn't a functional requirement. For example, there might be a requirement that there be a certificate from every developer who worked on a project stating the developer would obey all copyright laws. Jc3s5h (talk) 11:01, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Mickie James/Nick Aldis

Can you Delete something from the Mickie james and Magnus Wikipedia there is false rumoured information on there about them — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mickiefan2005 (talk • contribs) 12:31, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Already being dealt with - see Talk:Mickie_James#Edit_request_from_.2C_26_October_2011 and User_talk:Tabercil#Mickie_James_info for additional details. Tabercil (talk) 12:38, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Rudolph Cartier

Rudolph Cartier There is a strange addition in RED on this page. Seemingly nothing to do with the subject matter.

NB It took me about 5 minutes to eventually find this way of contacting you. Hmm ! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.23.5.93 (talk) 13:03, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

In red? What I found is this edit, where an anonymous editor added two tables, but the cells were in different colours. This was probably vandalism. Regards.--♫GoP♫_T^C_N 13:12, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

There was also vandalism with red text (a red link) in [1]. The article is currently featured on Main Page. This can cause some vandalism but also means there are many editors looking out for vandalism and reverting it quickly. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:26, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Please make headers in future

I cannot log in despite inserting my user name and being told that it's incorrect. I then tried to create a new account, using my user name, only to be told that it is already in use! The only person who could be using it is myself, so I'm being screwed around and getting nowhere. My normal user name is The Lone Stranger. Can that please be restored to me and a new password be sent to my email address, which is: [redacted for privacy] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.229.172.44 (talk) 13:07, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

User:The Lone Stranger was blocked in 2005. The edits of the account are at Special:Contributions/The Lone Stranger. Are you sure it is your account? Google gives 133000 hits on "The Lone Stranger" so I wouldn't be surprised if different users knew the term and tried to get the name. Only one user can have a given username. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:16, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

... and, of course, the new password would be sent only to the e-mail address registered to the account, not to any e-mail address that any random user chooses to mention on the HelpDesk; to do the latter would be pretty poor security. - David Biddulph (talk) 13:19, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

User names are case sensitive so that's another thing to check. RJFJR (talk) 13:44, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Problem locating my article

Good morning, I submitted an article yesterday "Richard M. Perloff" and am not able to retrieve to edit it. I don't know if it was deleted. I am very new to Wikipedia and am still learning. I probably did not place in the right category and/or named it incorrectly. Is it possible that you can assist? Thank you in advance for your assistance. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Elearning201 (talk • contribs) 13:31, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Special:Contributions/Elearning201 only shows sandbox edits and your account has no deleted edits. No article has been saved with this account. If you tried to save a page with external links then you would have to answer a CAPTCHA before the save was registered. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:43, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

I have also checked the deletion log for the past 48 hours for perloff and no article containing that name as part of the title was deleted, even if you were edited under another account name. In addition to the external link hitch noted above, sometimes people click the "show preview" button rather than the "save page" button and so they see the content they wish to save, but never actually save it.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 21:47, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Is there a way to configure my account so red talk page links don't open in the editor?

I use Twinkle a lot and don't need to the editor to work on talk pages. Having red talk page create the page and open in the editor means I have to wait for the editor to open and finish loading before I can use Twinkle. Is there a way to change this behavior so it's like red links in article space which offer to create the page only if you want?

Agoston Haraszthy

The article on Agoston Haraszthy has a tag stating that the neutrality of the article is questioned. However, there is no talk message explaining why the neutrality is questioned, or what about the article is not neutral. It does not appear that there is anything violating the neutrality requirement. The tag should be removed, but I do not wish to do so until the dispute has been resolved. Please help. americanulex. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Americanuslex (talk • contribs) 14:12, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

I re-reviewed the article and rv the tag, which I had placed. The tone of the article remains extremely familiar in nature, rather than disinterested; I suppose this doesn't necessarily insinuate a lack of neutrality. I added the tag after wikifying the article, perhaps too hastily, but I tend to be conservative in matters regarding possible violations of neutral language. Hopefully this settles the matter. Quis separabit? 18:04, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

How to create a wiki page

I would like to create a wiki page on myself and I don't know where on wiki to start? when I google how to, it states how to create an article, but nothing about how to create a page. Please advise me as to where to start and how to start. I am sure that it is very obvious to all the wiki gurus, but if you did a usability focus group you would find that the average person would be confused just like me. you can e-mail me at <blanked> thanks, Chris — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.216.109.44 (talk) 14:18, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

A Wizard is available to walk you through these steps. See the Article Wizard.

Thank you.

You will need to first register an account, which has many benefits, including the ability to create articles. Once you have registered, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.

Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.

If you still think an article is appropriate, see Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. An Article Wizard is available to walk you through creating an article, but you will need to create an account to use it. if you don't wish to do so, you can submit a proposal for an article at Articles for Creation. TNXMan 14:24, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

And if you are talking of creating an article about yourself, please also read WP:Autobiography. - David Biddulph (talk) 14:35, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Grant Money

WHERE DOES GRANT MONEY COME FROM IS"NT IT FROM TAX PAYERS — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.189.242.229 (talk) 17:50, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

If you're referring to Wikipedia, no. All of our money comes from donations. TNXMan 18:23, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

If you're not referring to Wikipedia, then this question is better asked at the reference desk (this help desk is for questions about using Wikipedia). If you do ask there, you really need to supply more information to get a targeted answer. First, you should tell us what country you are asking about. Second, you really need to tell us the type of grant, and who awarded it, if you know. In the United States there are all manner of grants, some of which are funded by taxpayers, some of which are private and some of which are a blend of private and public monies; there would be no one size fits all answer with your question remaining as broad as it currently it is stated.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 21:52, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Created Account, Did not receive Comformation eMail

I believe my spam filter discarded the conformation email. Can another conformation email be sent? What domain will the email be coming from, ( wikipedia.org? ) so I can set my filter to let it through. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wrongway2 (talk • contribs) 18:19, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

As far as I know you don't get an email when you create an account. Certainly I didn't. JamesBWatson (talk) 18:57, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

You don't get a conformation email when you create an account, but Wikipedia requires that users confirm their email addresses before they can use email features. See Help:Email confirmation. The confirmation email comes from wiki@wikimedia.org. —teb728 t c 00:33, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

Magazine publishing byline as third-party source

If a book's author has excerpts from his/her book published as bylined articles in notable, independent magazines, can those articles be cited as third-party sources? The idea being that the magazine determined that those excerpts were important enough to publish. Example: Ms Brown publishes ABC book. Disney magazine reprints part of that ABC book with Ms. Brown as the author. This is not clear to me on Wiki's third-party page. Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Laura P Wright (talk • contribs) 18:45, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

For what purpose are you asking? More context is needed before we can answer one way or another. --Jayron32 21:00, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

I have written an article on a book that is quoted in excerpts in many industry magazines in the form of columns by the author. The content is consistently excerpted from the book. Could those pubs be considered a third-party source? Laura P Wright (talk) 14:17, 28 October 2011 (UTC)

Mobile site - language links

Many times, in MOBILE SITE, i need to change the laguage of the subjects: especially from domestic language to English. Is it possibbly to put a "English language link" in mobile site? Sincerely, Kemal [e-mail (Redacted)] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.166.7.216 (talk) 18:47, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

I've copied your suggestion over to m:Talk:Mobile Projects. --Philosopher ^{Let us reason together.} 03:58, 28 October 2011 (UTC)

want a Rss account for online shopping for grocerie and products. Can you help me?

Want a Rss account for online shopping for grocerie and Pet products. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.183.128.103 (talk) 19:37, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Have you tried the Computing 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. TNXMan 19:40, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

How to avoid breaking WP:CIVIL

How does one deal with the situation where a problematic fellow editor genuinely deserves to be told to "fuck off" but one does not want to violate WP:CIVIL. They are not actually committing a blockable offence, just being an uncooperative dickhead. Roger (talk) 20:51, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Find something else to edit. Leave it alone for a few weeks and/or months. --Jayron32 20:54, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

If you're feeling angry, do what Jayron says. If you're feeling calm, perhaps after a short break, there are some options described at WP:DDE. Adrian J. Hunter^{(talk•contribs)} 22:10, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Thanks! There's really good advice on that page. Roger (talk) 08:41, 28 October 2011 (UTC)

Cannot replace an old artist photograph on the artist's page.

We're representing an artist and wish to upload a new picture of her to the relevant Wikipedia page. However, when attempting to upload, it says that I do not have the correct user level to do so. Is there a way to formally request a new, officially licensed picture is added? — Preceding unsigned comment added by CarinaRound (talk • contribs) 21:35, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Your account is not yet autoconfirmed, an editing threshold for certain actions that requires an account to be four days old and to have made at least ten edits. However, if you are uploading a photograph that you own the copyright to and are willing to license it under a free copyright license compatible with ours (see description here and a list of compatible licenses here), then it should be uploaded to our sister site, the Wikimedia Commons, so that all Wikimedia projects have access to it (sign up). The Commons is a free media repository and does not have the same type of autoconfirmation barrier; once you register there you can immediately upload and once done the image can then be immediately used here. Note that you must give the photo a different name than the existing local image.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 22:02, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Lydia Lloyd Henry's birthday

I have noticed that it says that Lydia Lloyd Henry's birth year is said to be 1986 when it it 1996. I do not know how to correct so I will be happy if someone did.

Thanks for the heads up. It was vandalism which I have reverted. If you'd like to learn about editing, check out Help:Editing and the Wikipedia:Tutorial.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:05, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

references come up saying "no title". What shall I do?Art Experts (talk) 23:10, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

References come up saying "no title" in bright red. What is wrong & how I fix it? Art Experts (talk) 23:10, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

• You need to have a |title= element in the web cite template. Are you related to the subject of the article you're editing, by any chance? Pburka (talk) 23:20, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Getting red warning boxes at the top of my Wiki page

I recently updated the content on our Wiki page and now I am getting the following flagged messages on the top of the page and wondering if someone can help provide input on how to get thess removed:

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Tagged since March 2010. It is written like an advertisement and needs to be rewritten from a neutral point of view. Tagged since April 2010.

The topic of this article may not meet the notability guidelines for companies and organizations. Please help to establish notability by adding reliable, secondary sources about the topic. If notability cannot be established, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. (March 2010) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.115.137.103 (talk) 23:24, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Can you tell us what article you are talking about? It is hard to discuss tags without seeing the content of the article. GB fan 23:35, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

illicit amendment to an entry

someone called ThatPestyCommoner has amended an entry about me (Ingrid Detter de Frankopan) on Wikipedia, first by adding that I (a former Fellow at Oxford) would be also "Fellow at Cambridge at Dublin" and then by removing all the references to my entry. I would be grateful if you could stop this weird person. Thank you.Art Experts (talk) 23:31, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

I think you are mistaken. This is the link to the changes made by User:ThatPeskyCommoner. As you can see he or she made only formatting changes to the article, adjusting how the references are formatted and so forth. ThatPeskyCommoner didn't add anything about "Cambridge at Dublin." How did you come to the conclusion that these changes where made? --Daniel 23:42, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Ok I do see the "Cambridge at Dublin," it appears to be some kind of mistake. The rest of ThatPeskyCommoner's edits where fine. --Daniel 23:43, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

Probably this edit, and not a mistake - it is just a link to the section of the Fellow article that is specific to Oxford (which explains the link), Cambridge and Dublin. I don't know if this is the correct definition of "fellow" as used in the article; if incorrect then it should be replaced by a link to the correct section. Peter E. James (talk) 00:22, 28 October 2011 (UTC)

It seems certain that that was the edit referred to. It was a perfectly good edit, but unfortunately Ingrid Detter de Frankopan, being new to editing Wikipedia, misunderstood. The edit made a link to the relevant section of the article Fellow, which refers to fellows at Oxford, Cambridge, and Trinity College Dublin. The mention of Cambridge and Dublin is only in the Wikilink, not in the visible text in the article. It does not suggest that de Frankopan is or was a fellow at Cambridge or Dublin, but merely tells the Wikimedia software where to go to in the article Fellow if someone clicks on the link. JamesBWatson (talk) 09:05, 28 October 2011 (UTC)