Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2012 August 29

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August 29

Can unregistered users create user pages?

Can unregistered users create user pages for themselves? Or does this feature require account creation? I have tried to create one but I can't find a button and it keeps saying "Wikipedia does not have a user page with this exact name". –– 76.10.241.86 (talk) 05:46, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Unregistered users can only create talk pages. If you'd like to create a user page then I suggest you register a named account. There are other benefits - see Wikipedia:Why create an account?. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:24, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

An IP address can quickly change and the old IP address may be reassigned to other users, so it would often lead to confusion if there were user pages for IP addresses. Why do you want a user page but no user account? PrimeHunter (talk) 11:23, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

For some reason I thought it was possible, but I guess creating an account is the thing to do. Thank you both for the info! –– 76.10.241.86 (talk) 15:24, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

User:Root

This account exists, but Why is the page redirected to User:Jimbo Wales? And why is he blocked with the reason "In the chance that this is an account that can be logged into, it shouldn't be able to edit". ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ibicdlcod (talk • contribs) 06:54, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

The reason the page is redirected to User:Jimbo Wales is because DragonHawk redirected it with the summary "Redirect to proper target. ;-)" so I guess it was a joke. I don't know why it was blocked, though, so you might want to talk to the blocking admin, Cyde. A boat that can float! (watch me float!) 07:33, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

See Root user and the second bullet at Wikipedia:Username policy#Misleading usernames. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:15, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Never heard of the term; thanks, PrimeHunter! A boat that can float! (watch me float!) 11:49, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Tried to write a Wikipedia article about my school

Hello? I always use WIKIPEDIA very well. One day, I want to write on my own document about our schoool in English. Many people have been asking about our school in English, So I tried to write about it.

But, I don't know the reason not to upload my file. It has passed quite long time. Please answer this question as soon as quickly.

Thank you for reading this all. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Welovescu (talk • contribs) 07:35, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

I think you're talking about your draft at Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Seoul Cyber University. The Articles for Creation submission hasn't been reviewed yet because there is a draft submission template at the top, which means it isn't up for review. I'll change the template so that it is active and I'll review it for you. A boat that can float! (watch me float!) 07:45, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

I've just declined it because it is not written in a neutral point of view. A boat that can float! (watch me float!) 07:49, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Welovescu - one big problem with your draft article is that it talks about the school's goals, vision and so on, but it tells us almost nothing about the school itself. For example, it could tell us: How many students does the school have ? What are their ages ? How large is the faculty ? What courses does the school offer ? At the moment, your draft reads as if it has been copied from a school prospectus. Gandalf61 (talk) 08:05, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Is this notable?

Moved to Wikipedia:Notability/Noticeboard § Notability of a book

 – -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 10:07, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

See notice above.
Does 1635: The Papal Stakes satisfy WP:BKCRIT#5? I considered prodding or taking to AfD. A quick Google search turned up nothing that would help establishing notability on regular grounds. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 09:36, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Wiki loves monuments

How do I make the "wiki loves monuments" banner go away? When I click the 'x' to close it, it instead opens another page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.151.66.84 (talk) 10:22, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

I don't get the banner, even when I'm not signed in. On which page(s) can you see the banner? A boat that can float! (watch me float!) 12:49, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

It's determined by IP address. 41.151.66.84 is in South Africa so the poster probably sees the banner at the bottom of http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:CentralNotice&method=listNoticeDetail&notice=WLM+ZA+launch. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:25, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

The Student Room - editing this page

I am an employee at The Student Room and have been asked to take a look at the Wikipedia page on The Student Room (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views). There are a few changes and updates that I would like to make to this page. These are not related to marketing the company, rather they are to correct some minor factual inaccuracies and to add some additional information. Could someone please advise me on the process I should follow in order to do this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.42.164.157 (talk) 10:35, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Take a look at Wikipedia:Conflict of interest CTF83! 10:40, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Use the article's talk page to propose the changes. Roger (talk) 11:26, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Error when rendering NYC book as PDF

Hello - There seems to be an issue when rendering the New York City book as a PDF. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book:New_York_City)

Wtf0722 (talk) 13:46, 29 August 2012 (UTC)TF

I tried it as well and during the rendering period it died about 95% through laying out with a lengthy error message that starts:

An error occurred on the render server: RuntimeError: command failed with returncode 9: ['mw-render', '-w', 'rl', '-c', 'cache/2f/2f96e14e10315829/collection.zip', '-o', 'cache/2f/2f96e14e10315829/output.rl', '--status', 'qserve://localhost:14311/2f96e14e10315829:render-rl', '--template-blacklist', 'MediaWiki:PDF Template Blacklist', '--template-exclusion-category', 'Exclude in print', '--print-template-prefix', 'Print', '--print-template-pattern', '$1/Print', '--language', 'en'] Last Output: 12-08-29T14:34:59 rlwriter.warning >> invalid image url (obj.target: u'Image:barnardcoatofarms.png') 2012-08-29T14:34:59 rlwriter.warning >> invalid image url (obj.target: u'Image:barnardcoatofarms.png') 94.5395425737% laying out Barnard College2012-08-29T14:35:02 rlwriter.info >> rendering: 'http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=509753469' 94.5395425737% laying out City University of New York2012-08-29T14:35:02

The book download procedure doesn't seem to be terribly reliable, based on the number of questions and complaints. One solution is to divide it into multiple smaller books. --Colapeninsula (talk) 14:40, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

template position

Is it possible to put a template always under all WP:TCs? For example, I want {{distinguish}} to display between contents and the cleanup templates even if in the source code it's on the top. THX!--Jsjsjs1111 (talk) 15:53, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

No, templates will always display where they're placed. Hersfold non-admin^(t/a/c) 16:01, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Cannot edit note

There are 2 external links that should be removed on the page 'Tattoo' These links are found in the notes section that i cannot edit. Please help? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jonhope123 (talk • contribs) 17:41, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

This is because you have to find the note after the statement it supports. For example, if you wanted note 12 removed, you would look for the number in the article (in this case after the sentence "In 2010, 25% of Australians under age 30 had tattoos.") you find the reference tag after the sentence when you edit the page, which will look like:

In 2010, 25% of Australians under age 30 had tattoos.<ref>{{cite web|last=Brittany |first=By |url=http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/fashion/im-inked-therefore-i-am-why-tatts-have-left-a-mark-on-gen-y/story-e6frfn7i-1225945591327 |title=I'm inked therefore I am: Why tatts have left a mark on Gen Y |publisher=News.com.au |date=2010-10-31 |accessdate=2012-04-05}}</ref>

and remove whatever's between the <ref> and </ref> tags inclusive. A boat that can float! (watch me float!) 17:52, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Sourcing a statement about university consortium

Can someone help me? In Kyoto#Colleges and universities, cite no. 13 is a dead link. I found a cached version at the Wayback Machine here. The information in the first sentence seems to be taken from here. However it is not clear to me, from which of those pages the statement "The consortium does not offer a degree, but offers the courses as part of a degree at participating universities." comes from. Or is it okay to leave that statement without a source? -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 17:54, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Jimi Hendrix locked page contains factual error

The section under "Military service" contains an incorrect date.

"...Hendrix chose the latter[85] and enlisted on May 31, 1961... ...Two fellow soldiers had befriended the "outsider." Raymond Ross, a heavyweight boxer, "stood up for him;" and Billy Cox, a bass player... ...This was a loyal friendship that Hendrix called upon from April 1969 until shortly before his death.

After he had served only one year..."

He was in the military from 1961-1962, so the sentence about the friendship with Billy Cox should read: "called upon from April 1962 until shortly before his death."

Hildebryn (talk) 18:26, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Do you have a reliable source to support that revision?--ukexpat (talk) 18:50, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

The article is correct as written. Billy Cox didn't start playing bass with Hendrix until 1969. They met in 1961, but Hendrix only "called on him" to play bass with him in 1969. There is no need to change the article, because it is 100% accurate as written. If it were to be reworded for style, that would be fine, but the dates are right. --Jayron32 20:07, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

I think it should be amended to "called upon for musical contribution" or something similar grammatical for style, because in the current context the sentence reads as though his friendship was called upon, not his musical skills. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hildebryn (talk • contribs) 21:08, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Representative of institution needs to upload image but is not autoconfirmed

I represent an institution of higher education and need to replace our (copywritten) logo but cannot upload image as account is new (10 edits not made) and I am not autoconfirmed. I don't foresee making 10 edits anytime soon but need to properly represent the institution. Suggestions? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Philaupr (talk • contribs) 19:59, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Is the image availible online somewhere? If you point us to a URL for the image, someone who is autoconfirmed can fix it. The best thing to do is leave a note on the talk page of the article whose logo you wish to see updated with a link to a URL that contains the updated image. Someone who is watching the article can take care of it from there. Or you could post a link here, and I or someone else can do it. --Jayron32 20:05, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Judging from this edit I guess this is the logo in question, which can be directly uploaded to Commons as failing the threshold of originality to be protectable under copyright. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 21:14, 29 August 2012 (UTC)