Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2012 May 20

Help desk
< May 19	<< Apr | May | Jun >>	May 21 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Help Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current Help Desk pages.

May 20

How do i upload audio samples

How do i upload audio samples?? AdabowtheSecond (talk) 01:36, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

See the page at WP:CMF and WP:UPLOAD RudolfRed (talk) 01:50, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

I read the pages could you explain i have MP3 files how i maintain Ogg files AdabowtheSecond (talk) 02:37, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

It looks like Audacity can do this, but I've never tried it. RudolfRed (talk) 03:33, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Sortable Table: Dates

Hm, despite my valiant efforts and careful perusal of Help:Sorting, I cannot seem to get this working. I'm trying to get the "Milestones" table on my userpage (see sig) to sort by date, but it never ends up in the proper order. I've worked with Sortable Tables before (I made the one at List of Mario video games), but for some reason I just cannot figure out how the damned dates are supposed to be formatted in order to have them sort correctly! :/ Salvidrim! 02:37, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Have you tried the methods described under Help:Sorting#Dates, involving display:none? It doesn't look like your dates are formatted that way yet. Equazcion ^(talk) 09:33, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

I've tried what I could but I'm not sure I understand the explanations. Salvidrim! 13:18, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Strangely, the example sortable tables in the date section of that help page are doing the same thing. Looks like it's not you. I'll post this on WP:VPT and see if anyone knows what's up. Equazcion ^(talk) 13:30, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Home Before Dark

Home Before Dark (film) = Home Before Dark (1958 film) - identic

make the article Home Before Dark (1997) 04:09, 20 May 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.34.89.108 (talk)

Are you asking for a new article? You can make a request at WP:RA, or you can write it yourself (see WP:YFA) RudolfRed (talk) 04:17, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

See Home Before Dark (film) = Home Before Dark (1958 film) - identic - same film in two articles 04:20, 20 May 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.34.89.108 (talk)

It's only one article. One name is a redirect to the other one. That's common when a article is renamed, but there are links to the old name. The redirect keeps links from breaking. There isn't an article for the 1997 film, as far as I can tell. RudolfRed (talk) 04:21, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

As a note, I just redirected Home Before Dark (1958 film) to the more detailed Home Before Dark (film) --NeilN ^{talk to me} 04:22, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Changes related to "User:TonyTheTiger/creations" not showing my own edits

Resolved

Why won't Changes related to "User:TonyTheTiger/creations" not show my own edits

I see them in your contribution list. --NeilN ^{talk to me} 04:31, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Showing now.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 04:48, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Quanah Parker

This question regards the entry on Quanah Parker, Comanche chief.

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

About his birth, the entry reads, "Nadua and Nocona's first child was Quanah (Fragrance), born in the Wichita Mountains. The exact birthplace is debated, but Quanah visited what he understood to be his birthplace at Laguna Sabinas (Cedar Lake) in Gaines County, Texas in his later years.

That second sentence adds a note of doubt. The claim that Gaines County, Texas is Parker's birthplace has been often repeated and stems from a sketchy account in a 1963 book by Clyde and Grace Jackson. However, many scholars, authors and historians now believe that Quanah Parker was born in Oklahoma, near the Wichita Mountains. This fact is well-documented in books footnoted as Nos. 3 and 19 in the Wikipedia article, and in the book by Jo Ann Powell Exley, listed under "Recommended Reading."

As a result, I believe the entry should read something like, "An early account claims that Parker's birthplace was in Texas, but many scholars, authors and historians now believe that Quanah Parker was born in Oklahoma, near the Wichita Mountains."

Thanks for listening. I just think this bears clarification. Lstclaire (talk) 05:40, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Heading added and duplicate question removed

All information in Wikipedia is supposed to be verifiable. Therefore phrases like "many scholars ... believe" should never be used in Wikipedia without a reference to a reliable source that says that "many scholars ... believe" whatever it is. (Even a reference that makes the specific claim is not enough to verify the "many").

Much better would be to say something like "however writers such as Gwynne and Exley argue that ... " with proper references after the names "Gwynne" and "Exley". You can add a reference to the Exley book; and you share the existing reference to to the Gwynne book by naming it. See WP:Referencing for beginners.

If you don't feel confident in doing this, please make your suggestion at Talk:Quanah Parker. --ColinFine (talk) 10:01, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Carlos Fuentes infobox on main page

I can't make the bottom part of the Carlos Fuentes infobox (the URL etc.) display properly, which is unfortunate as he's on the main page. Normally I'd assume this is me being a bonehead, but other editors appear to have also tried and failed. I tried posting at Template:Infobox Writer but got no response. Where should I go for help next? Cheers, Khazar2 (talk) 07:22, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

I fixed the URL (it's long though so it still doesn't look "neat", not sure if there's much to do about that). What other problem was there? Equazcion ^(talk) 07:28, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Hm, perhaps it's just a problem with the template. I'd been trying to reduce it to something like Official site but couldn't make it work. The transclusion of "Influences" made me wonder if the bottom of the template was broken in some way. Khazar2 (talk) 07:37, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

The template does seem to make something like that impossible right now. Its documentation actually says that (Template:Infobox writer). Only the bare URL can be displayed. Equazcion ^(talk) 07:43, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Gotcha. Thanks for the assist -- Khazar2 (talk) 07:46, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Categories and violation of WP:ORDINAL

Category:C programming language family (how is a real Wikipedia link formed for this link?) violates WP:ORDINAL ("single-digit whole numbers from zero to nine are spelled out in words"):

"This category has the following 3 subcategories, out of 3 total."

Is there a way to change it? --Mortense (talk) 07:47, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Place a colon before Category to link to it: [[:Category:C programming language family]]. ORDINAL refers to how digits are displayed in article text. It doesn't apply to the way category listings are displayed, or any other feature of Wikipedia's interface. Equazcion ^(talk) 07:56, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

What is the difference between normal articles and categories listings? I thought the latter was just some semi-automatic generated page, like a template that applies to an entire page? --Mortense (talk) 08:05, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

That's exactly what category pages are -- semi-auto-generated listings, while articles are written entirely by editors. You answered your own question :) The numbers are generated automatically too. The only part that's not is some info at the top describing the category's purpose. Equazcion ^(talk) 08:09, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Why doesn't the Wikipedia Manual of Style apply to automatically generated pages? It makes no difference for a normal reader how a page is called into existence. --Mortense (talk) 09:06, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Would you expect a poet to list his works via rhymes and cadence? Categories are a utility, an index, a way of organizing articles so they're easier to find. They're not meant to have a particular writing style; it's unnecessary. Equazcion ^(talk) 09:18, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Also, Categories are maintained by the Mediawiki software, which lies outside Wikipedia and is used for thousands of other wikis. There is no reason why it should conform in its presentation to the MOS of one particular wiki. If you care enough about the issue you could ask for the software to be changed: start at WP:VPT. --ColinFine (talk) 10:06, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

It doesn't necessarily need to conform. It could have options for how it generates the output (like many templates have, for example, {{convert}}) --109.57.242.177 (talk) 10:50, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

wiki is hard to use no one seems to want to help

this is a crap site no one is willing to help there is no one to contact there are no easy instructions to add things to pages how can i delete my info from here — Preceding unsigned comment added by The gate keeper of hell (talk • contribs) 08:18, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

You won't be able to delete your username, but you can ask questions here if you want. Plenty of people watch this page and are willing to help. Equazcion ^(talk) 08:23, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

I posted your article here: Trond Bråthen. I'm not sure if it will survive though. I was only able to find one good source via the no.wikipedia version [1]. He was notable enough to list at 2012 in Norway at least... Equazcion ^(talk) 08:37, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

It's really ironic that you claim "no one is willing to help there is no one to contact" on this page, because this is exactly where you can contact people who are willing to help. However, if you arrive here with a hostile attitude it is perfectly reasonable for others to respond apropriately. Roger (talk) 08:48, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

maybe its the way wiki is set up you have to do this you have to do that instead of just been able to add things when i have looked at a page before it just looks as if things have been added straight and simple but no you have to jump through hoops first that is what gets ppls back up — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.214.163.151 (talk) 08:54, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

That user asked for help further up this page and was given some links about notability etc. I can understand getting frustrated at having to read through that stuff. Unfortunately, creating an article (one that won't get deleted immediately) isn't quite as simple as people tend to think before they actually try doing it. The one I created for this user is not likely to survive unless it's expanded soon. Such is the price of wanting to keep the encyclopedia somewhat reliable -- otherwise we would just let anyone add whatever they wanted. Equazcion ^(talk) 08:58, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

then i will have to take my information from another source as Wikipedia is not what i thought it was as there is not much more you can say about some one who has died apart from they have died — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.214.163.151 (talk) 09:07, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Becoming an official profile holder

what do i need to do to become an official profile holder on Wikipedia. for example. "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Ibrahim". If i want to have a page like this what do i need to do??

(question pasted from this revision contributed by Imsobers) -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 11:22, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

You would need to establish your notability (see Wikipedia:Notability (people)). That means you need to show that published reliable sources like newspapers or credible websites have written about you. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 11:26, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

There is nothing "official" about an article's existence, it is allowed to exist only if it satisfies a number of criteria, the first of which is WP:Notability. An article about a person is a biography, not a "profile" - Wikipedia is not a social networking website. Your word "holder" also means nothing because nobody owns or controls any of the articles here - See WP:OWN. Roger (talk) 11:34, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

WP:NOTE--Jac16888 ^Talk 11:42, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

I answered on the user talk page. The relevant guideline is Wikipedia:Autobiography. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 11:45, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Sorry.

I am still a new editor and messed up with two editors recently. When they used the word "steal" I was thinking "Is he calling me a thief?" and thought they were all attacking me. But now I know better I just want a way to apologise to them (again). It was all a big misunderstanding.--Deathlaser :  Chat  13:49, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Also I didn't understand what TAP meant.--Deathlaser :  Chat  13:50, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

This isn't really the place to post apologies. From your talk page it looks like there's no harm done though. Don't beat yourself up. Equazcion ^(talk) 13:55, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Mitt Romney - Education Section is misleading/incorrect

Your article states: "He attended public elementary schools[14] until the seventh grade, when he began commuting to Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, a traditional private boys preparatory school where he was the lone Mormon and where many students came from backgrounds even more privileged then he.

Although there is a boys middle school, there is also a girl's middle school as well. The school is not a private boys preparatory school, it is overall a co-ed institution. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mk12483 (talk • contribs) 14:17, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

When Romney attended the schools were separated by sex, Cranbrook for boys and Kingswood for girls. The text is accurate. JohnInDC (talk) 14:35, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Not possible

My last 31 article's notablity is so low that the web just doesn't hold enough info. on them. Even if it does it would take hours to find it - what can be done about this.--Deathlaser :  Chat  15:15, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Firstly you will have to tell us exactly what article you are talking about. Roger (talk) 15:17, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

All the "Mordellistena" ones.--Deathlaser :  Chat  15:18, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

"Mordellistena_martapurana Mordellistena_maroccana Mordellistena_marginiloba Mordellistena_marginicollis Mordellistena_marginalis Mordellistena_manteroi Mordellistena_malkini Mordellistena_malaccana Mordellistena_majuscula Mordellistena_mahena Mordellistena_magyarica Mordellistena_madecassa Mordellistena_maculaticeps Mordellistena_macrophthalma Mordellistena_majorina Mordellistena_maynei Mordellistena_maedai Mordellistena_luteoquadrinotata Mordellistena_luteoapicipennis Mordellistena_longipalpis Mordellistena_luteispina Mordellistena_luteifrons Mordellistena_longicornoides Mordellistena_lucida Mordellistena_lusitanica Mordellistena_longipes Mordellistena_longevittata Mordellistena_liljebladi Mordellistena_lampros Mordellistena_liturata Mordellistena_iridipennis"--Deathlaser :  Chat  15:20, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Umm ok, but please use wikilinks and line breaks, this "wall of text" is not particularly readable. I posted some advice on your talk page. Roger (talk) 15:32, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

I don't want to argue about this anymore today as this will mostly get me blocked.--Deathlaser :  Chat  15:41, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

No, it won't get you blocked. When I made 600 all with errors, I fixed 'em all, wasn't blocked. Have a go at these articles, and I'll give you a review on them, what you need to do and more.. I'll handle all 900 Mordellistena— ones. --Thine Antique Pen (talk • contributions) 15:46, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Tommorow, I had enough today.--Deathlaser :  Chat  15:50, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

I've knocked up an example one for you in around 2 seconds. See Pseudotomoxia albonotata. --Thine Antique Pen (talk • contributions) 15:53, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

improving an existing entry

Hello, I created the page below: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shunske_Sato There is a message 'This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. (Consider using more specific cleanup instructions.) Please > > help improve this article if you can. The talk page may contain suggestions. > > (December 2011)'

Could anyone help me to improve the page, perhaps, editing? I truly appreciate it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Physicsmodel6 (talk • contribs) 15:33, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

The only major issue I noticed is that the Disography section is mostly unsourced. For the rest the article looks ok, there are no glaring format or layout problems. Roger (talk) 15:48, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Internal / external search produces different results - external is derogatory and insulting

Page: disambiguation of short bus.

Wikipedia search for 'short bus' produces a page that states: "Short Bus, a shorter school bus generally used for transporting children being educated in special programs in the United States" - modified date 15 September 2011

Google search produces a page that states: "Short Bus, a shorter school bus generally used for transporting retards and other mental / physical defectives to school so as to be educated in special programs in the United States" - modified date 19 May 2012

I have no idea how 2 different pages exist, but can someone with the know-how kindly correct it. Many thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.20.179.55 (talk) 15:36, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

An editor vandalized the page. It has been fixed. Ryan Vesey Review me! 15:42, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Bear in mind that it may take some time for Google to catch up with the latest repaired version. Roger (talk) 15:44, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Am I at risk of getting blocked

I just had a very long argument just now and I was just wondering am I going to get blocked if I carry on this way?--Deathlaser :  Chat  15:44, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Read my comment in the section above. It wasn't an argument anyway, it was saying what should be done. --Thine Antique Pen (talk • contributions) 15:47, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

You seem to be suffering from m:Wikistress, take a break for a few days, relax, read a book, walk the dog, stroke the cat. Wikipedia will still be here when you get back. Roger (talk) 17:04, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

trying to find a band from 2004

I was stationed in germany from 2002 till 2004 i came across a band that was big in the Rock seen they had only one hit in 2003 i can recall liking but camt find any info on the band on the net The band was called Fate Rock the album was called fate The cover art was a picture of a ladys midsection waring rocker shorts and a metal beltbuckle (fate) If you could give some insight to how to find the band i would enjoy hearing the one song that i liked from them None of my friends from then can tell me the name of the song they just say "oh yah i remeber them" Help please i have been looking for about 3 years now for any part of that album Coming up empty every time

Thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.184.57.243 (talk) 16:23, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Have you tried the Entertainment 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. --ColinFine (talk) 17:24, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Rollback Statistics

How can I gather hour by hour (or day by day) statistics on reverts or rollbacks? User Talk:W.D. 16:42, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Error in the spelling of Gandhi

on ur page Rajkot the word Bandhi should b replaced by Gandhi.

Not the same as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Cresix (talk) 19:14, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Are you sure? It sounds like him to me. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:35, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

al-sarya group of companies in doha qatar a lot of case in higher court in doha qatar nothing happen, very strong connection from the govenrment.

sir/ madam

we would like to bring to your attention that this al sarya group of companies in doha qatar has a lot of cases in higher court,specially gulf precast company on eof thier own company, they are very strong, our cases even somebody won in the case nothing to happen. kindly help us to get our salaries. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.152.208.225 (talk) 19:34, 20 May 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) 19:47, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Scrolling problem?

When checking statistics for pro athletes I can't scroll sideways to see full page — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.176.234.153 (talk) 19:38, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

What article are you looking at? (I added section title for your question) RudolfRed (talk) 19:47, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

And which browser are you using? PrimeHunter (talk) 22:09, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

By Brooklyn H — Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.25.20.94 (talk) 13:35, 23 May 2012 (UTC)

The Difference

What is the difference between banning a user and blocking a user? Max Viwe | Viwe The Max 20:12, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

The pages on blocking and banning explain what each one is and how it is different from the other. RudolfRed (talk) 20:15, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Account/identification problem

A Wikimedian I know in real life and whose identity is quite certain for me has a trouble with his account on English Wikipedia (User:Avalikarvamus). Everything is fine with his account in Estonian Wikipedia, he just has forgotten his password on en.wp. The problem is, his confirmation e-mail in English Wikipedia was on a domain that has been deleted some time ago (due to a recent reform of .ee domains in Estonia). Unfortunately, he has not united all his accounts into a global one, and he cannot do it now. Wikipedia login page does not provide any other ways to prove one's identity besides e-mail, Help:Email confirmation does not deal with such problems and it seems nobody has read its talk page since 2011 anyway. I'm a Wikipedian since 2004 and an admin on et.wp, yet I haven't run into such a problem myself, so the only advice I could give him was to write on some bureaucrat's user page and ask what could be done. Any better recommendations? --Oop (talk) 20:26, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

The English account only has 46 edits. Is he willing to have the existing account renamed by a bureaucrat and start a new account with the name? http://toolserver.org/~quentinv57/sulinfo/Avalikarvamus shows etwiki has 22 edits and commonswiki has 36. If he brings one of them above 46 then he can create a unified account (the right goes to the wiki with the most edits) and use it to request usurpation of the English account at Wikipedia:Changing username/Usurpations. He may have to give some evidence that it's his account in order to get a bureaucrat to rename it when it has 46 edits. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:26, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll pass the advice. This should be easy. (If I was told to do 800 new articles and 17,000 edits on en.wp, now that would be a problem.) --Oop (talk) 09:23, 21 May 2012 (UTC)

How many policies and guidelines does Wikipedia have?

How many policies does Wikipedia have? How many guidelines? Is there a way to determine this? It seems like a lot, but I don't know of any way to definitively determine this. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 20:44, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Policies are listed at WP:LOP and guidelines are at WP:LGL RudolfRed (talk) 20:50, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Addition to article

Hi I can't find how to request an addition to an existing article. Under the category for Human Reflex Responses the "Amphibian Response" is missing. Thanks Mandy — Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.251.130.14 (talk) 21:55, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

You can edit most articles yourself. Read WP:HEP for details. If the article is protected so that you can't edit it, ask for help on the article's talk page. Cresix (talk) 22:21, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

But if you are talking about a category, you can only edit the text at the top in that way: an article is made to belong to a category by adding a line to the article itself. However, I can't find either an article or a category called "Human reflex responses", so I'm not sure just what you are talking about. --ColinFine (talk) 08:34, 21 May 2012 (UTC)

GA Review

I have nominated several article for GA status, lots of them are taking a while to get a GA review, I prefer it to be quicker, because it is an episode for a cancelled show, with the last episode next week, after the show is done, people may lose interest on it. How can it be quicker? Tate Brandley Stockwell 22:20, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

The quickest way is to review some other articles yourself. That way yours are more likely to be looked at because the list needing to be reviewed will be shorter. Ryan Vesey Review me! 22:37, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Please bear in mind that Wikipedia is not a news service - it makes no difference to us whether the show ends next week, next year or even already ended 40 years ago. Roger (talk) 08:46, 21 May 2012 (UTC)