Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2012 May 30

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May 30

List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Norte sorting incorrectly

In List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Norte, the Area column isn't sorting properly. How is this fixed? Albacore (talk) 01:01, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

It works if you take out the commas and add leading zeros to the sort template, like this. (Feel free to copy that to the article, but do check it over to make sure I didn't miss any.) Hope that helps. ^Avic_ennasis @ 03:59, 9 Sivan 5772 / 03:59, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

how to find wikipedia articles by size?

For example, if i want to find articles between 3000bytes and 10000bytes, what should i do?--Jsjsjs1111 (talk) 03:52, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

I don't think this is a standard feature on-wiki for searches, but I believe the CatScan tool allows to search articles by size. :) Salvidrim! 04:09, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

It helps! Thank you very much!--Jsjsjs1111 (talk) 14:26, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Redirected ref no longer supports claim

I have an article in which one of the references has been redirected to a new version of the site. The new site no longer contains the details required to support the original statement inteh article. I have no doubt that the original site's version did support the claim when it was accessed. So how do I tag this? doesn't seem right, and neither does . Meters (talk) 04:00, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Try to see if you can find an archived or cached version of the proper material, otherwise an alternative source will have to be found. If the referenced URL is simply now redirecting to another target which doesn't contain any of the needed information, then it is a , theoretically speaking. Salvidrim! 04:07, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

If you do find an archived or cached version of the proper material, per above, you can then permanently archive it yourself at webcitation.org to gird against this happening again. It can then be added to the citation, which is supported by some of the citation templates. For example, in {{cite web}} you would use the parameters |archiveurl= and |archivedate=.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 11:52, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Non-admins editing Mediawiki pages

When was the MW software first set up to allow only admins to edit MediaWiki pages? Edits like this and this show that it's not always been that way. Nyttend (talk) 05:02, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

The ability to disable editing of MediaWiki pages is done through the $wgNamespaceProtection setting, which was introduced in MediaWiki 1.10.0 - which was released on May 9, 2007. My guess is Wikipedia updated to 1.10 around that time. ^Avic_ennasis @ 05:35, 9 Sivan 5772 / 05:35, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

A Request/Inquiry about a separate "Images" section ....

I wanted to know that why don't you have a separate section for the "images" like Google does ???

An anonymous and a well wisher.. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.236.52.92 (talk) 05:37, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Images are in the File: namespace. - Purplewowies (talk) (How's my driving?) 05:42, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

You may also be interested in Wikimedia Commons where many of our images are stored. Dismas|^(talk) 05:44, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Recomending pre-requesite pages

I feel it would be highly benificial if a given page can can suggest a "pre-requesite" page for back ground information. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.74.180.113 (talk) 06:50, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Can you provide an example? Nearly all articles have links to such topics (highlighted in blue) in their opening paragraph, and many articles have a "See also" section near the end for related topics.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:46, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

You might also find interesting the research reported in the "To understand a Wikipedia article, which others does one need to read first?" entry under Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2012-05-28/Recent research#Briefly. Deor (talk) 13:21, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Update URL in footnote

I need to update a URL in a footnote with reference to a page from 2010 now archived in the Wayback Machine. Can you give me the correct Wikipedia citation form for this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.139.26.233 (talk) 07:58, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

In a {{cite web}} template, you can just add "|archivedate=" & "|archiveurl=" parameters. :) Salvidrim! 08:02, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

It would help if we had the specific example so we know the format. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 10:08, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

The Chinese version of the article "Bradford University School of Management" is wrong!!!

Hi, the Chinese version of "Bradford University School of Management" is linked incorrectly!! When I click the "Chinese" version from reading the English version, it jumps to the Chinese version of "Lancaster University Management School", which is totally wrong. Woud you please correct it ASAP? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.48.153.2 (talk) 09:51, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Did some searching, but the Chinese Wikipedia does not seem to have that article. Removed the incorrect interwiki link. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 10:07, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

my account

someone has hacked my account and I have tried to regain access but I think they have changed email so I can't get a new password. what can I do to get it back? — Preceding unsigned comment added by MilfordBoy1991 (talk • contribs) 12:16, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

I guess it isn't the account you posted this from. What is the username? PrimeHunter (talk) 12:21, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

MilfordBoy991 — Preceding unsigned comment added by MilfordBoy1991 (talk • contribs) 12:24, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

User:MilfordBoy991 has no committed identity and far too many edits for usurpation. There is a stored email address but others cannot see it. Are you sure you know which address it should be? Do you still have access to it? It sounds like you have tried Special:PasswordReset. Have you checked any spam folders? Your ISP or webmail provider may have one outside your computer. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:28, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

yes I have and I have checked all spam folders and nothing came through — Preceding unsigned comment added by MilfordBoy1991 (talk • contribs) 13:36, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

1) When were you last logged in? 2) Have you tried another browser or computer? 3) Are you also unable to log in to wikiquote:User:MilfordBoy991? 4) Have you made any edits with information which could be used to verify your claim to the account? meta:Privacy policy says: "Users whose accounts do not have a valid email address will not be able to reset their password if it is lost. In such a situation, however, users may be able to contact one of the Wikimedia server administrators to enter a new e-mail address." I don't know under which circumstances this will be done. The account has no added user rights so you could start over with a new account and write on the userpages that you are the same user. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:59, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Wikipedia Page for E commerce website

I want to create a Wikipedia page for my e commerce website , plz suggest how to proceed for this activity, what steps to be follow to make the proper page for my website which will get approved quickly that will help us to make our identity on Wikipedia asap.

plz suggest the steps and guild lines , content, or else necessary to make a valuable Wikipedia page asap.

my email : (Redacted) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vaishnav2010 (talk • contribs) 12:50, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

You don't. Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia, not an advertising website. The notability criteria for an organisation to have an article on Wikipedia are at WP:CORP. You should not, in general, try to produce an article about an organisation with which you are connected, see Wikipedia's guidance on conflict of interest. - David Biddulph (talk) 13:19, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

A little problem

Resolved

What is up with the US flag at list of tallest people? AndieM (Am I behaving?) 13:26, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

It looks normal to me. Please describe the problem you see. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:30, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

It is red at the left half with a black star in it, yellow at the top-right quarter and green at the bottom-right quarter. I am currently on Safari on an iPad; I haven't got a chance to try on other browsers. AndieM (Am I behaving?) 14:40, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Also, the German flag looks like a bunch of ice hockey players. AndieM (Am I behaving?) 14:47, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Do you mean all of the US flags are this way? I've looked through the article, and I can't find any country's flag with such an appearance. Nyttend (talk) 15:07, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

United States Germany

They both look normal to me in both Firefox and Safari on a PC with Windows Vista. Is there any diffference for you above, at list of tallest people, and at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/22px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png and http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/ba/Flag_of_Germany.svg/22px-Flag_of_Germany.svg.png. I don't know how an iPad works but can you try to clear your entire cache? PrimeHunter (talk) 15:15, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

I'll try to clear the cache now AndieM (Am I behaving?) 17:54, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

cleared and problem resolved. Thank you! AndieM (Am I behaving?) 17:55, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

I am having a hard time making a page go live.

Resolved

I have been working on an article for a while. Initially it was in the sandbox, but then when I thought it was ready I moved it to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:David_R_Courtney this was a couple of days ago but it still does not show up in the wikipedia search box.

Did I do something wrong? Did I neglect to finish something?

Respectfully yours

Robert Bernstein — Preceding unsigned comment added by Robertbrnstn (talk • contribs) 14:02, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

This is because you have moved it to the Wikipedia: namespace. It needs to be moved to the Article namespace; I'm happy to do it for you. AndieM (Am I behaving?) 14:41, 30 May 2012 (UTC) (update:looks like it's been done by Fuhghettaboutit).

The article is now at David R. Courtney. UltraExactZZ ^Said ~ Did 14:54, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Access to my old account

First of all, I really want to thank you guys for answering newbies' questions around here - I know it can be really frustrating, so I truly appreciate that you're willing to help.

Anyway, my problem is that I want to access an old account of mine, User:Zv Brooks, but I forgot the password and I never set an email for it. I don't know how I can prove that it's me, but I'd really like control of that account instead of creating a sockpuppet. By the way, I had it so long ago that I'm not even sure if the IP address will be the same as it is now.

Thank you so much in advance -- 99.161.121.86 (talk) 16:09, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Unfortunately, if you do not remember your password and cannot access the email you used to set it up, we have no way of recovering your account. Your best bet is to start a new account. TNXMan 16:19, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Please note that our sockpuppet policy prohibits malicious use of a second account. Really the only ways that you can violate the sockpuppet policy are (1) deceptively editing with both at the same time to make it look as if you're two separate people, or (2) deceptively editing the same pages over time with both to make it look as if you're two separate people. Since it's been two years since the last edit from your account, nobody is likely to associate edits by your new account with edits from the old account. You're free to register a new account and then say "This is the same person as Zv Brooks; I forgot the password" on the userpage, but there's no requirement that you do that. If you want to create a similar username (e.g. "Zv Brooks 2"), the software may complain about it; if you encounter that, simply go to WP:AN and post a request for an administrator to help you, because a simple "I forgot my password and want to make a new account" should be accepted quite quickly. Nyttend (talk) 18:15, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

How do I talk to the person who edited me?

I modefied a page. My modification was removed by TEDICKEY. Is that an editor? How do I discuss this matter with the editor who removed my modification? 89.100.206.151 (talk) 16:29, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Yes, Tedickey is an editor. You would post on User talk:Tedickey.— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 17:30, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

I can't see that any of your recent contributions have been reverted. Maybe you were using a different IP address? Can you tell us which article you are referring to? Rojomoke (talk) 17:35, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

I had the same trouble, but the IP's contribution history is short. I finally found that User:Tedickey (different capitalization) had reverted the IP's very first edit on Federalist Papers.— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 17:40, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Ads in wikipedia

I have noticed ads showing up in wikipedia. i have seen these ads in other websites and they are definitely scams. I am beginning to question wikipedia's ad-free environment. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.83.57.25 (talk) 17:28, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

What is the exact URL of the site where you saw ads? It may be a mirror of Wikipedia. Other sites are allowed to reuse Wikipedia content. It is also possible that you have malware.— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 17:37, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Please read Wikipedia:RFAQ#ADS. In recent months, many malicious browser add-ins have begun displaying ads when users go to Wikipedia articles; if that's the case for you, we can't do anything about these add-ins, since they're on your computer. You can run malware-detecting software; if you have any questions, go to the computing reference desk, and people will be happy to help you. Nyttend (talk) 17:39, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Wikirage

The statistics page Special:Statistics includes several links to Wikirage, (http://www.wikirage.com/top-edits). However, according to Wikipedia talk:Wikirage, the site appears to be abandoned and is showing statistics from over a year ago. Should it be removed, and if so, how? Rojomoke (talk) 17:31, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

You'll have to notify the developers, perhaps by creating a bug notification at Bugzilla. Even administrators can't edit Special: pages, and developers don't often come here, so there's not much chance that anyone reading this page can actually do the fix. Nyttend (talk) 17:35, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

The part with Wikirage links is actually pulled from MediaWiki:Statistics-footer which can be edited by administrators. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:50, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

I had no clue about that; thanks! Done. Nyttend (talk) 19:40, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

"Create a toolbox link to show the page with messages from the user interface substituted with their names" at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets is helpful to find such things. Or manually add ?uselang=qqx to the url of a page as in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics?uselang=qqx which says "(statistics-footer)" to indicate transclusion of MediaWiki:statistics-footer. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:03, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! I've tried searching for MW: pages by copy/pasting text into the Search box and restricting it to MW: and MW Talk: namespaces, but I've generally had trouble and been unable to find them that way. Do we have a help page discussing what qqx does? It changes so much on Special:Statistics that I'd like to understand the command. Nyttend (talk) 20:16, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

mw:qqx and bugzilla:15802 have some info. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:58, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Wikipedia book management

I created a book, but don't have all the functionality since I haven't done any edits. I don't feel qualified to edit any pages at this time.

Is there a way to create chapters and sort alphabetically without meeting the requirement for 10 edits? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ck12go (talk • contribs) 17:46, 30 May 2012

You can ask to be confirmed at Wikipedia:Requests for permissions/Confirmed but you must give a reason and the reviewing administrator must see if your reason is valid. AndieM (Am I behaving?) 18:00, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Any edit anywhere at en.wikipedia.org counts, for example your question here or if you make a user page at User:Ck12go. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:47, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Edit to our sandbox count, including ones as small as adding a single character. Nyttend (talk) 19:37, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

No gadgets tab

Hi, for some reason when I go to my preferences there is no gadgets tab and none of my gadgets (HOTCAT, POP) are working. Anyone know why? --T H F S W (T · C · E) 17:52, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

This probably is going to be better answered here Jeancey (talk) 17:53, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

How do get rid of this text [[Image: |200px|alt=]] above thumbnail picture

Here is the Wikipedia page I'm referring too...Stanley Foundation...if someone can either find a way to take out the text on their own or tell me how to remove it I would appreciate it. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by RanderReese (talk • contribs) 19:10, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Fixed.[1] Most infoboxes add their own image code and only need the image name. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:16, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Attempting to add photograph to article - don't have permission.

Hi

I am attempting to add a photograph to this article Twister (ice cream)

There is no photo with this article so I feel it would benefit from one I have taken myself.

The photo shows the normal flavour and alternative Strawberry flavour Mini Twisters - albeit half eaten, I have uploaded the photograph to imgur as I cannot upload to Wikipedia. Photo here: http://i.imgur.com/Knsyh.jpg

Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by MiniTwister (talk • contribs) 20:50, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

If you will release the photo under an acceptable license then please upload it at commons: where it can also be used in other Wikipedia languages and wikis. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:40, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

( e/c [My later post inerlineated above yours, probably because you skipped a line]) Hello MiniTwister. The reason you could not upload the image here is because you are not yet autoconfirmed (you need to be registered for more than four days and have ten or more edits). If Wikipedia was the right place to upload that photo I would grant you autopatroller rights, but the place you should upload this image is at the Wikimedia Commons. That is the lace for free images, and once uploaded there, it can immediately be used here. The best part is once you have an account there, you can immediately upload an image. Regarding the image you uploaded to imgur, we have to assume images we find at other sites are copyrighted, unless we have reliable, verifiable information they are not. It's not that we don't believe you when you say it's your photograph, but that this is as assertion by an anonymous person. So please upload the image to the Commons.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 21:41, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Odd character difference numbers on watchlist

With all the problems going on recently with watchlists and gadgets, etc., I hesitate to bring this up as 5 minutes from now, perhaps it will mysteriously disappear. Anyway, this is an entry from my watchlist:

Sonia Sotomayor‎; 13:40 . . (+134,968)‎ . . ‎Kaltenmeyer (talk | contribs)‎ (added reference) [rollback | sum]

The change did NOT add 134,968 characters to the article (god help us - the article is already bloated enough). In fact, at that point (it has since changed), the last edit by Kaltenmeyer was a 0 character change. I noticed this one other time earlier today, but, of course, it went away with the next edit and refresh of my watchlist.--Bbb23 (talk) 20:51, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Sometimes the software cannot retrieve the size of the preceding version and acts like it was 0. The page history [2] shows the total page size and not the change was 134,968. It's actually more odd that the diff is blank [3]. This should have given a null edit not shown in watchlists, page histories, user contributions and so on. This is discussed at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#Diff/watchlist difficulties. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:04, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, but it still doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I don't recall ever seeing this phenomenon before. Also, unless I misunderstood your comment at the pump (very possible), "I don't have Expand watchlist to show all changes, not just the most recent" enabled, and it seemed as if you were saying this only happens if that is checked.--Bbb23 (talk) 21:47, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

It also happens if that setting is not checked, but the edit only occurs on the watchlist at all if it's either the most recent edit or the setting is checked. In my pump comment it was no longer the most recent edit so I mentioned the setting. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:05, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Okay, hopefully, last question from the pest: is it supposed to work this way?--Bbb23 (talk) 22:19, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Is what supposed to work which way? It's certainly a bug when the watchlist shows the page size instead of the size difference, and when an edit with no change to the page source is shown at all. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:01, 31 May 2012 (UTC)

seeking feedback on draft for new article

I'm looking for feedback on a draft of an article about EBIPM. The text is currently in my sandbox. Thanks. Ryansteiny (talk) 21:16, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Here's a link to help others: User:Ryansteiny/sandbox. I have no opinion on the article, just trying to be helpful. --Dismas|^(talk) 22:09, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Here is my impression after reading in the article: If your land has been invaded by weeds, you may feel like going out and getting rid of them. This is a mistake. Instead, you should use EBIPM: sit in your office filling in forms and using buzzwords. What is not clear to me is why this should ever have any effect on the weeds. Maproom (talk) 11:05, 31 May 2012 (UTC)

You might also want to seek out sources and further reading that is not all hosted at smallfarmcentral.com. It reads to me like you have a product (or maybe a methodology) to sell and want to use Wikipedia to help you sell it. The other thing is that Wikipedia is not a how-to manual (step 1, step 2 and so are a bit of a giveaway). Astronaut (talk) 19:01, 31 May 2012 (UTC)

How to submit an article

I have an article I've already written and have already submitted the title "Sgt. Richard Sakakida: An Analysis Of His Undercover Exploits in WW II Philippines." I just now signed up with wikipedia but it is so impossibly complicated to find out how to submit this article that I don't know what to do. So if I can't find out an easy way to submit it, please just delete my name, etc. In fact, I'm not even sure how to get back to this once I've logged out. Why in the world do you make it so difficult to submit an article! I don't even know how to type in the squiggly "thing" I'm supposed to do at the end of this post. Clearly your organization is not for folks who are my age (75) and that's just too bad. Dennymill — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dennymill (talk • contribs) 21:33, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Your article title looks like either a book title or some sort of analysis that you have come up with on your own. If it is a book title, and the book is notable per WP:NBOOK, then you can copy the text of the article and paste it here: Sgt. Richard Sakakida: An Analysis Of His Undercover Exploits in WW II Philippines. If your article is some analysis that you've come up with on your own, it is not suitable for Wikipedia. We don't publish original ideas, papers, or technical journals, etc. Also, the squiggly "thing" is a tilde and is next to the number 1 on most standard American keyboards. I've additionally left some info on your talk page as to other policies here. Dismas|^(talk) 22:06, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Maintenance template format

{{Unreferenced section}}

The above template produces a very different look compared to similar maintenance templates. I can see when it was changed in the history (a few years ago). I can also see a little bit of dicussion on the Talk page about it. But I don't get why it's one of the few (that I've seen) that looks like this. Frankly, I like the other ones better, if for no other reason than they include the date the template was added. Should it be changed back to the usual style?--Bbb23 (talk) 22:22, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

I strongly think that this Help Desk is not the proper venue to hold such a discussion. Try taking it to the template's talk page? :) Salvidrim! 22:25, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

The template says that you can specify a date for it, or a bot will add it. Is that part of the template not working, or is the bot broken? RudolfRed (talk) 22:27, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

@Salvidrim, I don't mind taking it to the template Talk page, but I posted it here for two reasons. First, it involves more than just one template, and, second, because I've found that some of the regular contributors here know a LOT about templates and about back stories involving templates. @RudolfRed, even if you put the date in, it doesn't appear on the page as it does with the other templates. I don't think that's a bug because the rendering on the template page doesn't show the date.--Bbb23 (talk) 22:32, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

• Ah, I see. Well, there IS a bug, at least about the date not showing up. See, for {{Unreferenced section|date=May 2012}}:

So indeed, it may need improvements. If you intend to modify a number of templates to bring consistency among their display styles, then SOME discussion needs to be held but unfortunately I must say I'm not sure what would be the best place for it. Salvidrim! 22:37, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

You're right. For some reason (senility), I thought the date showed up in the sample display on the other templates, but it doesn't, only when you actually use the template and specify the date parameter. That helps. I will at least address "the bug" on the Talk page, thanks.--Bbb23 (talk) 23:02, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Well it may possible be intended not to show in the display itself; the date still is likely use in the page maintenance categories. Salvidrim! 23:04, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

I see no reason for it not to display the date consistently with the other templates. Anyway, we'll what kind of response I get on the Talk page.--Bbb23 (talk) 23:07, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

See Template talk:Unreferenced#Section. Equazcion ^(talk) 23:38, 30 May 2012 (UTC)