Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2012 January 8

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January 8

Page Deletion

Hi, I was wondering if you cold help me?

I used to have a page on Wikipedia but it has been deleted. I have tried to contact the person who deleted it (Courcelles) by clicking on their 'talk' page but I'm afraid I can't see how to contact them from there and was wondering if you could help?

Many thanks :- )

David — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.202.90.201 (talk) 04:01, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Can you tell us the name of the article? GB fan 04:10, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

If you go to User talk:Courcelles you can leave a message by clicking the "New section" link at the very top of the page. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:19, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Great, thanks John. To be honest, I'm going to leave it tho. Not worth the hassle, Courcelles seems to be a serial deleter - — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.202.90.201 (talk • contribs) 19:08, 8 January 2012‎ (UTC)

You'll find that the deletion was discussed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/David Grant (broadcaster); during that discussion nobody could find justification for keeping the article. You'll find the criteria for biographies of living people are at WP:BLP; if the subject's notability could be shown to be verifiable by references to reliable sources then the article could have remained. - David Biddulph (talk) 19:24, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

WP:BIO actually. – ukexpat (talk) 21:08, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Mass talk page mailing

Is there a mechanism to do a mass talk page mailing. Not every user on Wiki, don't worry. But I want to notify all the users on the WBFAN list of an RFC for FA elections. There is a category for all the users. And I can just open the list, import it to excell or word and make a tabbed list somehow. The list is by user page, but perhaps I can do a search and replace to make it talk pages. Still, how do I put out a mass mailing then? Or do I just have to slog through the thing manually?

TCO (talk) 05:34, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

You could use AWB. Dismas|^(talk) 06:10, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

This sounds like a job for User:MessageDeliveryBot. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:16, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

False Warning from Bot

I've just received a warning from ClueBot NG telling me that my IP address vandalized the page First Aid (see here). According to the page's archive, someone added the words "stupid idiot raskal" to the end of a paragraph in this edit and I'm being held responsible for it. The only problem: I did not make that edit; I don't edit unless I'm logged in and no one else uses my computer. My ISP uses Dynamic IP addresses for clients, is this what is causing the problem? If so, how can I make sure this doesn't happen again? Wikiraj121 (talk) 06:38, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Yes, it's because your ISP uses dynamic IP addressing. You can ignore the warnings while not logged in or ask for a static IP address from your ISP. Note however that your ISP may charge you for being assigned a static IP. Dismas|^(talk) 07:57, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

That's what I was afraid of. If this happens again before I get my IP fixed, is my IP/userID going to get banned? Wikiraj121 (talk) 10:51, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

If I remember correctly, and I think I do, as long as you're logged in, an IP block will not stop you from editing. Dismas|^(talk) 10:54, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

A block form has a field called "Prevent logged-in users from editing from this IP address", but it's unchecked by default and rarely used. Wikiraj121 shouldn't worry about it here. And like other blocks, such blocks can be appealed by affected users. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:57, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

I hope that would only be used if the IP was proven to be static (never passed around). Otherwise, any logged in user who is using dynamic IPs could find themselves arbitrarily blocked for something someone else did months before, any day, any time. That's a boat load of nasty right there. fredgandt 13:24, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Read again Fred! If an IP vandalize WP, then admins are able to block IPs. Every IP then still able to login into an existing account and contribute to WP (or vandalize further), because the software differentiate between IPs and users. In rarely cases checkusers have to block also logged in users with the same IP (e.g. in universities). These accounts/users are then blocked to edit Wikipedia, but they can request an IP block exemption and - if granted - then they are able to edit WP! mabdul 14:06, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

"Prevent logged-in users from editing from this IP address" <--- I read it again! It still says the same thing. Thanks for the extra info. fredgandt 14:10, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

And they said that it was unchecked by default and rarely used. I don't see your issue with Mabdul's first comment. Dismas|^(talk) 20:02, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, guys. Wikiraj121 (talk) 04:48, 11 January 2012 (UTC)

my page Plunkitt of Tammany Hall

Hello, I created the "Plunkitt of Tammany Hall" page on my own user page, as was suggested to me by you guys because if I'd just created an official one there would have been a chance that it could get deleted. I've put an overview of the page, an outline, and I've begun to fill in the outline. Now I'm curious what the process is for how my own "Plunkitt of Tammany Hall" page under my username gets to be a real page which can be seen by the public. Thank you for all of your efforts on my behalf. — Preceding unsigned comment added by DonnaWelles (talk • contribs) 16:24, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

When User:DonnaWelles/Plunkitt of Tammany Hall is ready to publish, you can move it to article space. I see your draft has no references yet; before moving to article space you will need to provide references to reliable sources — both to verify the content and to establish the notability of the subject. —teb728 t c 18:21, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

You were given a number of useful links on your user talk page, but I guess you haven't looked at them yet, so your starting point is to read them. In particular, read WP:1st and WP:Tutorial, and also read about verifiability, reliable sources, and referencing. - David Biddulph (talk) 18:21, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

For review: StarCore (software distributor) article

In some software history research I found it considerably difficult to find any information on the StarCore software distribution/publishing group and no mention whatsoever on Wikipedia. I've gathered most of my research and have put together what I feel would be an initial version at Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/StarCore and would love a review. I feel it fills an important gap, is related to a notable company, has significant published works, and, from looking at other software developer & publisher articles, is appropriately constructed, but I'd love feedback as to any improvements I should make to get it ready for submission.

Thanks in advance. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Linetrace (talk • contribs) 16:42, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

how to merge an artical that written in bengali languge to written same article in english

how to merge an artical that written in bengali languge to written same article in english--lrt (talk) 17:09, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

If you are asking about add content translated from an article on Bengali Wikipedia to an article on English Wikipedia, you do it the same as adding any other content, except the you add a note to talk page attributing to the Bengali article, as described in WP:Translation.

If you are asking about linking to an article on Bengali Wikipedia, that is described in Help:Interlanguage links. —teb728 t c 17:33, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Please restore missing text to Wikipedia page for Deroy Murdock

Dear Wikipedia:

Happy New Year!

I just checked my Wikpedia page here:

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

It has a significant amount of text missing. The relevant passage now reads like this:

--

He said on MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews" on September 16, 2007 that he believes Saddam Hussein was involved in perpetrating the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on America. Murdock cited Smith v. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan., 262 F. Supp. 2d 217,[5] a federal case heard by U.S. District Judge Harold Baer, Jr.. Murdock details this case, and presents extensive additional evidence of Saddam Hussein's philanthropy of terror on a webpage he developed called HUSSEINandTERROR.com.[6]

--

The following text has been deleted and should be restored:

--

In Smith v. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Judge Baer ruled that Hussein's Baathist government and the Taliban assisted Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Judge Baer -- who President Clinton nominated in April 1994 -- ordered Hussein, Iraq's former government, and this case's other losing parties to pay $104 million in civil damages to the families of George Eric Smith and Timothy Soulas, both murdered on September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center. Judge Baer added: "Again, since the al-Qaeda defendants and Iraq are jointly and severally liable, they are all responsible for the payment of any judgment that may be entered."

--

I would suggest that the full passage should read as follows:

--

He said on MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews" on September 16, 2007 that he believes Saddam Hussein was involved in perpetrating the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on America. Murdock cited Smith v. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan., 262 F. Supp. 2d 217,[5] a federal case heard by U.S. District Judge Harold Baer, Jr. In Smith v. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Judge Baer ruled that Hussein's Baathist government and the Taliban assisted Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Judge Baer -- who President Clinton nominated in April 1994 -- ordered Hussein, Iraq's former government, and this case's other losing parties to pay $104 million in civil damages to the families of George Eric Smith and Timothy Soulas, both murdered on September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center. Judge Baer added: "Again, since the al-Qaeda defendants and Iraq are jointly and severally liable, they are all responsible for the payment of any judgment that may be entered." Murdock details this case, and presents extensive additional evidence of Saddam Hussein's philanthropy of terror on a webpage he developed called HUSSEINandTERROR.com.[6]

--

I discovered about 30 minutes ago that my separate website on this topic, HusseinAndTerror.com, has been vandalized very badly. It could be that the same culprit of that attack -- presumably someone who disagrees with me on this topic -- has chopped this supportive text out of my Wikipedia page. Rather than simply debate Saddam Hussein's role (or non-role) in the September 11 attacks, some people prefer to delete from the record arguments and evidence supporting his culpability. Such censorship is vile and despicable.

Would you please restore this text and police my Wikipedia page to assure that this sort of anti-intellectual destruction does not happen again?

Many thanks for your assistance and excellent work,

Deroy Murdock New York City 69.86.244.65 (talk) 19:00, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

You should post your proposed pages on the article's talk (discussion) page, and then tag it with {{Request edit}} to get comments. See WP:COI RudolfRed (talk) 20:27, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Here's the text being removed:[1]. Based on the edit summary, I surmise that the remover did not think the information was relevant to this particular article. I'm a little troubled by how quickly you're jumping to conclusions about people's motivations. I'm also concerned about the level of involvement you appear to be displaying in our article about you. Wikipedia articles are not owned by anyone, least of all their subjects. Finally, I think you should have a brief read of our civility policy; you are making serious accusations against the remover, and are describing them in a rather unflattering light. If you have evidence to support those assertions, I strongly suggest you present it now; otherwise, please drop them. --NYKevin @392, i.e. 08:24, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Help financially to keep the last World Dreadnought Battleship afloat (BB-35 USS TEXAS) please!

Collapse appeal for funds

The Battleship Texas(BB-35) is in a sorry state . The the state is supposed to take care of her ,everytime they vote funds for her, they turn around and use the funds for other unrelated state so called needs. Mr. Steve Howell has organized The Battleship Texas Foundation. A tax exempt foundation strictly for the restoration and repair of the old girl, including a drydock/slip. BATTLESHIP TEXAS FOUNDATION 3527 Independence Parkway South LaPorte, Texas 77571 Phone 1 713 827 9620 Website: www.battleshiptexas.org bb35foundation@sbcglobal.net When my wife were in the 1st & 2cd grades and just about every other kid in Texas raised with our pennies, nickols & dimes brought BB-35 home. Please don't let her rot away! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.123.4.176 (talk) 19:42, 8 January 2012 (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. RudolfRed (talk) 20:08, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Members of Operation Majestic Titan could help you by getting the article we have on Texas up to featured status, but beyond that we can do nothing for you. Sorry, but that is just how it is. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.72.220.135 (talk) 09:33, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

user id

Hi my user ID is foxgarrett. It has been several years since I have done any editing and now I am not able to log in under foxgarrett. When I try to log in it states there is no userid foxgarrett. Yet there is. How can I resolve this? Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.237.110.83 (talk) 20:04, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Are you sure you spelled Foxgarrett correctly? Usernames are case sensitive. —teb728 t c 21:08, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

that was it. Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Foxgarrett (talk • contribs) 21:19, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Advice for EDU admins

Imagine you are an IT admin for an educational institution (i.e., a school/university). What would you do to limit/help in the fight of vandalism coming from your school?

• One could check the contributions from your proxy/IP range to see what edits anons are making
• There exists {{Template:Shared_IP_edu}}. I probably shouldn't *create* user-pages to post this on. I could post it on the ones that already have vandalism. But this is arduous if there are 100's or 1000's of addresses?
• Is there any place I can note that I am the admin. contact point for some block of addresses? That way the above template posting happens automatically if a user-page is created (i.e., a vandalism warning is posted).
• I see I can subscribe to RSS feeds of user-talk pages. Again, is there any way to do this in bulk?
• Anything else?

Thanks, West.andrew.g (talk) 20:24, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

I have no idea how to answer the question, but I would suggest posting here and maybe someone will see it there.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 19:07, 11 January 2012 (UTC)

Agapemone or Agapemonites

WP has two articles Agapemone and Agapemonites which seem to be about the same thing. I've proposed a merge but have no idea which is the correct name - can anyone help?— Rod ^talk 20:45, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Agapemonites was created first. – ukexpat (talk) 21:00, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

moving text to the right

Hi

I cannot for the life of me find a way to move text to the right and make sure each time I do it after different length words it starts in the correct place (ie the tab button on a keyboard makes the text go to a defined position, making it the same place throughout the document)

Can you help? Matthewgrant12 (talk) 21:24, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Starting a line with one or more colons will move the text to the right, similar to a tab. RudolfRed (talk) 21:30, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

The photo of me removed and replaced by one which is not me in a biography of me

Hi there, My name is Gabriel Gorodetsky and there is an entry on me which had my photograph which now has been replaced by one of a 'Michael Gorodetsky' who is not me and is misleading therefore. please remove. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 132.230.1.28 (talk) 22:16, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

I've restored File:Gorodetsky.jpg the old image. This is the correct image of you, yes? The uploader of this image says that it was taken from your personal collection, and that you gave permission to license the use of that image under the GFDL and cc-by-sa licenses. Could you please confirm this, choose to license the image differently, or upload another image that you own? I'd be able to assist with any of those things. Alternately, we can just delete this image and use no image. In 7 days from today, if we cannot verify your permission to use that image, then we will remove it and use no image in the article. Let me know if you have any questions, cheers! Prodego ^talk 22:27, 8 January 2012 (UTC)