Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2012 November 10

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.

November 10

Trying to create a biography of a race car driver(my son)

Im having too dificult of time trying to do this. Ive spent over 4 hours and tried to send for review, however I have lost every time consuming article. Isnt there someone I can send my article to post in here.. or how do I post an article of a biography complete with picture. Im Lost. Much like your article on Martin Truex Jr, Or Brandon Weaver...Drivers. Please help. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Racerdad10 (talk • contribs) 04:29, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Hi Racerdad. Thanks for trying to improve Wikipedia! For all the sources you'll need to write your first article, see the aptly named page "Wikipedia:Your first article". However, I noticed you appear to have a conflict of interest with the subject of your article, your son — remember to write with a neutral point of view. Thanks, and let me know if you still have questions after reading Wikipedia:Your first article. —Theopolisme 05:10, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

See Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Matthew Davey - Davey is a 12 year old boy who races go karts.[1] I didn't find any source information on Davey. -- Uzma Gamal (talk) 10:26, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Sources tagged as unreliable

At the foot of this article on Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon there are two references, both to Darryl Lundy's ThePeerage.com which have an unreliable source tag. I don't cite ThePeerage.com as a source myself, but I've run across many such references to ThePeerage.com in articles I've been editing, some of them tagged as unreliable, some not. Are the tags put there by a bot, and if so does this mean that ThePeerage.com has been identified as an unreliable source by Wikipedia, and that the references should be deleted when I run across them? Or should I just leave them there? Thanks for any guidance on this. NinaGreen (talk) 05:09, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Searching for domains in the Wikipedia namespace will usually return some old debates, in this case ("WP:thepeerage.com"), it did (see here and here). It seems the general consensus is that it's not particularly reliable and should be avoided, but it's not really forbidden. If you can find a ref to replace it, certainly do so, but if you can't find a replacement just leave it. Also, more pages than you're probably aware of link to it currently. Scarce2 (talk) 07:19, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the tip on searching via domain name for previous discussions of the reliability of a website. That will come in handy in the future. The history section of the above-noted article indicates that editor PBS [2] created a bot which searches for thepeerage.com, and has tagged a considerable number of those citations as unreliable. If I can replace them with a reliable source as I run across them, I'll do that, and otherwise I'll just leave them tagged. NinaGreen (talk) 16:25, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Vandalism

Hello i have read an article recently about Caucasian mountains and its peaks. i Found that 3 regions of Azerbaijan and Georgia was shown as independent countries in an article "Caucasus". i edited it but user: "Chipmunkdavis" reverted it all. i have told him to stop vandalizing but he doesnt hear. Made a correction Nagorno-Karabakh and Abkhazia are recognized by 99% of world Governments as a part of Official territories of Azerbaijan and Georgia. MADE A CORRECTION. Or i am going to give an information to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 176.73.208.159 (talk) 06:57, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

You might have misinterpreted the list showing countries of the Caucasus. The regions that you mentioned (among others) are indented, indicating a nation sub-set (region, territory, etc.). Perhaps that part of the article needs to be clarified - helpful suggestions are always welcome (but I imagine the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan has more important items on their agenda than editing Wikipedia). ;) Hopefully, there can be a civil discussion on the article's talk page where editors can agree on how to clarify the article. ~E: 74.60.29.141 (talk) 07:32, 10 November 2012 (UTC) Modified:74.60.29.141 (talk) 08:42, 10 November 2012 (UTC) (UTC)

Please note that for the most part just regular-type editors respond to Help Desk questions whenever they believe they can be helpful. Administrators might check in occasionally, but this is not the place for "reporting to the Admins". ~Just plain-ol' Eric 74.60.29.141 (talk) 08:59, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

These are some of the many regions round the world whose status is disputed, with strong feelings on both sides. It is very difficult for Wikipedia to present the situation in a way that will not offend somebody; but what is clear is that disagreeing with your view is not vandalism, and if you claim it is, you are editing disruptively. What you have here is a content dispute, and it should be addressed by Wikipedia's procedures for conflict resolution, not by throwing accusations about. (And by the way, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan - or any other ministry anywhere - has no authority over Wikipedia.) --ColinFine (talk) 14:40, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

USvUK-bot?

Is there a bot for discerning UK vs. US English spelling? - (and is there any notable distinction between UK and Australian English). I've been editing an article which specifies Australian English and might have missed a few terms. ~Eric F 74.60.29.141 (talk) 08:20, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

There are no spelling bots, but there may be scripts that could help you. If you don't get a good answer here, I suggest you post at Wikipedia talk:Typo Team where the spelling specialists live. -- John of Reading (talk) 09:36, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Using the Kindle version of a book as a reference

G'day,

I have a Kindle book which I want to use as a ref in an article, but it does not display page numbers, instead using something called a "location". Does anyone know how I can use this "location" in an inline citation? Thanks, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 09:00, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

If you use Citation Style 1, use the |at= parameter and specify "Location XXX". You may/will also want to include the edition/type as a Kindle edition, and get the relevant ISBN. More can be found at Template_talk:Cite_book/Archive_10#Citing_an_e-book (and in another section on the page). You can also find an example in one of my userspace drafts, User:Purplewowies/Changes to History of deaf education in the United States#cite_note-EdwardsISBN1-3. - Purplewowies (talk) 09:12, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Thanks very much! Regards, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 09:15, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Hi!

Hi!, I've just signed up into Wikipedia and would like to know whether or not can I create articles on films' characters. Thank you! Watterwalk (talk) 13:37, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

You can create articles on any subject which passes the criterion of notability - generally, that it has been written about in several independent reliable sources - which generally doesn't include press-releases or most blogs and forums. Most fictional characters do not pass this test, as newspapers, books and the like do not often write about the character, as opposed to the film; but some do, and already have articles. Please see WP:Your first article for more information. --ColinFine (talk) 14:45, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Icon to insert signature no longer appears when editing pages

FYI, icon to insert signature no longer appears when editing pages. Is this a function of the page layout?--Jax 0677 (talk) 13:50, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

See also 'Suddenly I can't search' (above) many features and gadgets to do with editing and browsing appear to have been disabled inc. this feature?

Thanks for the reply. Also, is it true that Weber Aircraft changed their name to Zodiac Seats US LLC?--Jax 0677 (talk) 14:13, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

That would be a reference desk question.— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 22:12, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

Luke moore- swansea

Would someone please edit the details for Luke Moore's entry for Swansea city football club? I find it highly unlikely that he made 84 senior appearances for aston villa at the age of 8, and Nashville Tennessee is most definitely not in england. Also, another Luke Moore plays for Southampton football club, yet is omitted from the team roster. Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 176.252.59.135 (talk) 15:10, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

The Luke Moore article had been vandalised. An editor has now repaired the damage. Maproom (talk) 17:16, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Search not functioning

Totally unable to use Wikipedia. When I enter any subject and hit search, nothing happens. It goes nowhere. Help! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.36.131.39 (talk) 15:32, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Works fine for me. Ruslik_Zero 19:05, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Unless it's something that other people are reporting, it is almost certainly something up with your computer or your browser. You might try a different browser (eg Firefox or Chrome) and see if it works there. --ColinFine (talk) 23:49, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Does NOT work for me! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.108.207.83 (talk) 11:30, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

lost facilities

I have lost all sorts of editing facilities, such as toolbar, Wiki markup, special characters ... I can't even change my preferences. How can this be fixed? Petergans (talk) 15:40, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Hmm, its there for me (Safari browser). What browser and skin are you using? -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 15:55, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Perhaps Wikipedia:Help desk#Suddenly I can't search above from November 9 is related, I haven't investigated further. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 15:58, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Internet Explorer - all editing features/ special characters/ change to preferences - all gone.

Well I can only make guesses here: Maybe one of the extensions MWSearch or WikiEditor was updated recently and perhaps that introduced some dependency on a functionality that is missing in Internet Explorer. I can't give you a solution, though. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 16:27, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

You mean no one does any TESTING before implementing changes??????

Maybe... difficult to say anything definitive without knowing more. It wouldn't be the first time though.... -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 16:41, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

This is ridiculous and not the first time. How can one edit without reflinks, symbols, et al?? Quis separabit? 16:53, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Micro$oft implements a "Do it now, fix it later" philosophy. Perhaps you need to wait for the "fix it later" (or try Firefox - works fine). ~E:74.60.29.141 (talk) 17:02, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

@Petergans What version of Internet Explorer are you using? I tested in Internet Explorer 8 and all the stuff that's supposed to be there is there. Maybe something that affects only a specific version of Internet Explorer, maybe it is unrelated to the browser at all. Sorry, I cannot make more than to guess without being able to reproduce the behavior you describe. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 17:34, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

This happens to me too sometimes, but there are these small boxes both on top of the edit window and below (both on the right side), and so far I have managed to get everything back by trial-and-error clicking on them. Lova Falk talk 17:38, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

It's nothing new for "them" to screw things up. the script errors and extreme loading times are gone to the cost of the above mentioned problems. I'm not surprised about this repeated apparent incompetence but still quite disappointed.TMCk (talk) 18:38, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

I'm using IE8 on Windows XP. I've been editing a lot recently,e.g. electromagnetic absorption by water and this happened suddenly yesterday. Incidentally, all is well when I use my laptop IE9/Vista. Petergans (talk) 19:40, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Do you still have a the Advanced tab on top of the edit box? If so, can you select Advanced? Advanced sometimes comes unselected for me on a reboot. —teb728 t c 22:10, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

See Missing Tools discussion (below) ~E:74.60.29.141 (talk) 03:04, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

Waterloo rugby page

Hi

I had edited the waterloo rugby page on Wikipedia, and all edited information was up to date and correct, however you had decided to revert this back making what it currently was out of date! Why had you done this? What us the point in allowing people to edit pages to contain correct information if your team change it back to be wrong! Does your team know waterloo rugby club if they did they would know that the information added or changed was correct — Preceding unsigned comment added by Redman1818 (talk • contribs) 21:18, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Please read WP:V, WP:RS, WP:NPOV, WP:COI and WP:ELNO before you edit Waterloo R.F.C. - or any other article. Roger (talk) 21:37, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

(Edit conflict and stuff) Your edits to Waterloo R.F.C. were automatically reverted by a bot (an automated editing program) because one of your edits included the addition of a link to Twitter. Such links are discouraged per Wikipedias guideline on external links. The bot does not have a smart intelligence and simply reverts all of a users edits until the last edit by another user, which is the reason why everything you added to the article was reverted. Apart from that, please take a look at the other pages Roger mentions above. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 21:51, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Added information on "Jaybirds of America"

You might consider adding one more definition to "Jaybird"="a woman/man who does housework in the nude. "Jaybirds of America" is an unofficial group that is spreading rapidly in the US. Door to door salespeople would be especially interested.

Source: membership aND WORD OF MOUTH — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.254.160.24 (talk) 21:47, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Sorry, but membership and word of mouth are not reliable sources. —teb728 t c 21:52, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

If the practice or the group have been written about in independent reliable sources, then there may be Wikipedia articles about them. If not, then they will fail the notability test, and articles are likely to be deleted. --ColinFine (talk) 23:53, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Kristjan Glibo

the page is a lie. kristjan is a family member and recently someone vandalised hos wikipedia page. the family would be very thankful if you could change to it's original article about a 30 year old football player of SV Sandhausen. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Renato.glibo (talk • contribs) 22:13, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

I reverted the last two edits to Kristjan Glibo; did that get everything? Thanks for reporting it. —teb728 t c 22:27, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

John F. Harris

Could someone take a look at John F. Harris - there's a weird error in the PROD that I can't figure out how to fix. Thanks Illia Connell (talk) 23:11, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

 Done Cresix (talk) 23:20, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! Illia Connell (talk) 03:18, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

Sensory deficits

what does sensory deficits mean in regards to a foot digit surgery? Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.232.207.41 (talk) 23:34, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Header added. This page is for asking for help in using or editing Wikipedia. For general information, try searching, or pose a question at one of the departments of the Wikipedia reference desk. If you do ask, I suggest you give some more context, as at present it is unclear what you are asking. --23:55, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

But also note that we cannot give medical advice.--ukexpat (talk) 15:09, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

Missing edit toolbar

I have 2 PCs. One is normal, where I have the signature tool and the "B" for bold tool etc. The other PC however seems to be messed up here. It does NOT have these tools, where I believe at one time it did have. Apparently there is a setting to get these tools in the "edit this page" mode. However I can NOT find this setting on my second PC. Also this second PC is missing "my sandbox", where the first normal PC does have this. How do I set the second PC correct, as now I can not even click on the signature tool?--Doug Coldwell (talk) 23:35, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

Have you tried the procedure at WP:PURGE? Cresix (talk) 00:01, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

Just now tried that. It didn't make any difference. I do believe this second PC has been working correctly up until today. Something changed, however I don't know what. The "tools" are STILL missing, even after "purge". --Doug Coldwell (talk) 00:09, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

Just vaguely guessing here I think you are using different internet browsers or if not the internet browser as well as other apps or software on the not working PC has either not been updated in a long time or has never been installed (such as Java etc.). You may want to provide more info such as last time you updated apps or software, the browser and Operating System used on each and the last time you updated those as well. Marketdiamond (talk) 00:11, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

O.K. I try my best. Keep in mind, as far as I know (and can remember) this second PC has been operating correctly up until today. The second PC is about 2-3 years old with Vista. The first PC (that is now working correctly ) is near new of about 6 months old and has Windows 7. I see on this second PC that there is a "JAVA update available". Is that any type of a clue?--Doug Coldwell (talk) 00:27, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

There was a Windows update on some sort of "Service Pack". I am updating now....--Doug Coldwell (talk) 00:33, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

Windows Vista Service Pack 2 in progress. Hope for the best.--Doug Coldwell (talk) 00:35, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

Updated Windows and JAVA - but still no luck. I am missing the "edit toolbar" where it says "Requires JavaScript". This box is checked.--Doug Coldwell (talk) 11:47, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

Sorry your still having problems, its hard to know exactly without really being there and as you have noted your IP connection is allowing the correct format for Wikipedia through so that rules out an internet glich on your end or a glich on wikipedias end, that only leaves the software and operating system of the one computer. Confused when you say "this box is checked", one way to test if Java is working is bring up google and type in "test java" and a sun or java website should be one of the 1st results and will test your Java, again not certain if it is even java thats the problem, since you also mentioned 2 different browsers/OS's you may want to go to the tech or computer boards at Wikipedia and discuss if those may be the problem for you. Best of luck. Marketdiamond (talk) 19:23, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

• O.K. Thanks for your help. BTW, I did the JAVA test and it says Java Version 1.6.0_37 from Sun Microsystems, Inc. Apparently it is working correctly. The answer of the confusion is under My preferences "Editing" tab - the various boxes and half way down it says Show edit toolbar (requires JavaScript). It IS checked. I'll keep probing around and maybe I'll stumble onto why it doesn't show the Edit toolbar.--Doug Coldwell (talk) 21:54, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

  I update to IE 9 and the problem is solved. Thanks for the clues and hints.--Doug Coldwell (talk) 15:36, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

Glad I could help! Marketdiamond (talk) 08:58, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

Resolved