Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2012 November 23

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November 23

Question about SUL conflict

I was just renamed on this wiki to Bui while there was five other wikis using this username (they are not mine). I just tried to create a SUL account however it didn't work, presumably because I don't own the accounts on the five other wikis (see here). Only two of those users have edits (one each), so I suspect they are inactive.

Is there any chance of me being able to claim these accounts so I can create a global account? I guess one way would be signing up on each local wiki and requesting a username usurpation, but I'm unfamiliar with those languages and it would take a lot of time. Is there an easier way? Bui (talk) 00:13, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

You will have to request usurpation of the usernames at each respective wiki. There should be a crat who can understand English at these wikis, just keep it simple and mention SUL. You should also be able to contact them via email, if you would prefer an alternative. I'm surprised that it wouldn't let you merge account though; did it just create a warning sign or would it just flat out not let you (try Special:MergeAccount)? bibliomaniac15 00:19, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

It tells me that the five accounts on the other wikis could not be confirmed as mine as they have a different password to the one on en.wiki (image). Bui (talk) 00:24, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Special:CentralAuth/Bui shows you have created a SUL account, also called a global account. This means you can log in to any Wikimedia wiki where the name Bui isn't already taken by someone else. If you want to be able to log in to those 5 wikis as Bui then you must request usurpation of the name at each one. If you don't edit at a wiki then you don't need the account there. It's perfectly OK to have an incomplete unification. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:30, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Oh, I understand now. That's fine; thanks for clearing it up for me! Bui (talk) 01:37, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Missing notices at WP:TW

Hello. I can't seem to find the edit summary and usernames notices at Twinkle, am I blind or something I can't those ones and on the template doc it says it is used by the Twinkle software. Can't find it. Happy Thanksgiving, TBrandley 00:37, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

On a user talk page: Click "TW" and choose "Warn". If you then select "Single issue notices" in the first box then "{{uw-editsummary}}" should be among the options in the second box. If you select "Single issue warnings" then {{uw-username}} should be among the options. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:18, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

interested scholar: devoted to faith.

Attempting learn college level academics.profound eagerness for learning. -important- emergency study skills.b Appropriating a advanced development timeline. Designable by scholars? I think assistance at this time would be appreciated. Looking for lives work. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.34.170.135 (talk) 01:23, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

This page is for questions about how to use or edit Wikipedia - it is entirely unclear what you are asking, but I suspect that you'd do better to rewrite your question in comprehensible English, and then ask it at one of the Wikipedia reference desks. AndyTheGrump (talk) 02:17, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

• If you are looking for a job, you might want to use an employment website available for your local area. Gryllida 07:27, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Fluoride

I was troubled after watching a movie on the "Truth about Fluoride" and lots of other articles on how bad fluoride is for us to consume and the lie about it being good for teeth to prevent cavities, when all along it is a Hazardous waste product and kills and destroys. I have been a money supporter of Wikipedia but I think you need to tell the truth about this dangerous fluoride being added to our water supply and given to us in tooth pastes. It is deplorable how money gets people to do so many horrible things. Please check into this and see all the information on how bad this is for us and then up date your articles to reveal the TRUTH about fluoride.

Thank you, Becky — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.167.144.66 (talk) 02:39, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Hello Becky. Please bear in mind that not all movies or documentaries are entirely accurate. Wikipedia would want to see some reliable sources that prove that fluoride is not healthy. Also, please remember that Wikipedia is the encyclopedia that anyone can edit, including you. Of course, that also means that anyone can undo your edits if they don't seem to be helpful or accurate. AutomaticStrikeout 02:54, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Wikipedia has many articles mentioning concerns. See for example Water fluoridation controversy, Water fluoridation, Fluoride, Fluoride toxicity. But experts and other people often disagree about "the truth". One of Wikipedia's core policies is Wikipedia:Neutral point of view which says: "Articles mustn't take sides, but should explain the sides, fairly and without bias. This applies to both what you say and how you say it."

It is not Wikipedia's job to decide "Fluoride in water and tooth paste is bad", and then promote that message and dismiss the many who disagree. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:10, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Photo of Ayman Al-Zawahiri, successor to Osama Bin Laden

There has been no photo uploaded of Ayman Al-Zawahiri on Wikipedia.. I've been trying to fix that.

<redacted copyright violation>

That is what I uploaded. It was on the website of the National Counterterrorism Center. I don't know if what I put up is the correct license. Could someone help? I would like for this not to be speedily deleted. It's no different than not putting a photo up of Osama Bin Laden. What's the proper license for a picture like this? This isn't a work of the National Counterterrorism Center obviously. I'm currently using {{PD-USGov}}, because I assumed this would suffice.--Xxhopingtearsxx (talk) 09:07, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

The photo came with metadata that is showing up on the file page[1] and reads "This handout still photo released by Al-Qaeda's media wing as-Sahab and provided by IntelCenter 03 November 2007 shows Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri during an audio speech. Zawahiri said that the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group had joined the network in an audiotape posted on the internet today, whose authenticity could not immediately be verified. There have been reports of Islamist unrest in the eastern Cyrenaica region of major oil producer Libya in the past but the authorities in Tripoli have always insisted that the violence was the work of criminals. AFP PHOTO/DSK == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE/MANDATORY CREDIT: INTELCENTER, NO SALES, OBSCURING OR CROPPING OUT INTELCENTER LOGO NOT PERMITTED == GETTY OUT (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)". The template you would use in Wikipedia (not commons) is {{Non-free media}}. Likely, the only people who could get a free image is Al-Qaeda's media wing. In using the non-free media template, you could post something like, "Since there is a $25 million Reward on Zawahiri,[2] free equivalents could not be created." -- Uzma Gamal (talk) 11:12, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Uxbridge High School (London)

The above page has been created by a third party with incorrect information and no authority to publish anything on our behalf. The page has been locked by them until February 2013 and we, as the school , are unable therefore to edit the page. Please advise how we can unlock our page and also how we can prevent unauthorised users from editing or locking our page in future.

We are very concerned that as a school, defamatory or incorrect information can be published by unverified sources.

This is the second occurrence of this nature in the past week.

Many thanks

Carr12345 (talk) 09:51, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

It's not your page, it's Wikipedia's page.

Rest assured that the page being "locked until February 2013" will be at least moderately effective in preventing defamatory information being posted there.

If you can provide reliable sources to show that information in the article is incorrect, please provide those sources on the talk page of the article, including an explanation of what exactly is incorrect. --Demiurge1000 (talk) 10:05, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but Wikipedia is like nothing else, and does not work the way you think it does. Not only is it not your article, but you have no authority over it, and are actually discouraged from editing it because of your conflict of interest. What you are encouraged to do is post any concerns you have about the article on its talk page, and let uninvolved editors decide what to change.

Having said that, Wikipedia is anxious to get its content right, according to to the best independent reliable published sources. Any unreferenced information in an article may be removed, and obvious vandalism should be reverted straight away. But an article should not contain any information that comes only from the subject, or only from somebody's personal knowledge; and conversely, well-referenced information should not be removed just because the subject doesn't like it.

One more point: you say "we" several times: please be aware that all user accounts are personal, and may not be used by multiple people. --ColinFine (talk) 12:21, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Other languages

Hi I haven't been able to log in languages other than English. What should I do if I want to edit in these languages?

Thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pintade (talk • contribs) 12:35, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

One way to do this is to create a Single unified login for your username. Then logging in on English Wikipedia will log you in to all other language versions simultaneously. -Thibbs (talk) 13:04, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

The reason you didn't automatically get a Single unified login when you created the account is that the username was already in use at the French and Hungarian Wikipedia.[3] Since then it has also been created at the Spanish Wikipedia. Unless they are your accounts, you will not be able to log in at those three languages. You can log in at all other Wikimedia wikis if you unify your account at Special:MergeAccount. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:25, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

faulty referral

When I type in "barbara blackburn", I get referred to an article on typing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.64.118.75 (talk) 14:49, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

That's because the page Barbara Blackburn is a redirect to the section on speed-typing; Blackburn being notable only for her Guiness World Record typing speed. The section in the article Typing contains just about everything that can be said on Blackburn, so it has been deemed that she doesn't warrant a separate article. Yunshui 雲‍水 14:55, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

I don't think that the Barbara Blackburn who was on the 1991 dark shadows and the Barbara Blackburn from Oregon are the same person. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.64.118.75 (talk) 19:45, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Right, there are multiple people with this name. The actress [4] is mentioned in several Wikipedia articles. Four of the five current articles at Special:WhatLinksHere/Barbara Blackburn are about the actress. It's problematic that Barbara Blackburn redirects to a page about someone else. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:39, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

resubmission of article

i dont know how to resubmit my article as it was rejected first due to lack of reference. Now i have added reference. So please verify it Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Hari Narayan Krishnan— Preceding unsigned comment added by An.aravind.k (talk • contribs) 15:06, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

I recommend you to improve it to an acceptable state before you resubmit it. For example, "which almost did a fare job in box office" is both mis-spelled and promotional. A more accurate and neutral way to say this is "which made a small loss". Maproom (talk) 17:14, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

IP Addresses

Are IP Adresses visible to Administrators of Wikipedia? --RossSLynch (talk) 16:27, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Nope, not as long as you are logged in and posting from your account. --Orange Mike | Talk 16:46, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

They are however visible to the much smaller number of checkusers. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:33, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

President of Egypt

Can others please keep an eye on Mohamed Morsi? I don't know how long it was in the article, but I just reverted this:[5] There might be other inappropriate edits. Biosthmors (talk) 17:28, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

The disruptive edit was done just 41 minutes before you reverted it. Unfortunately, such edits are common on Wikipedia. Further, articles about government leaders are particularly susceptible to vandalism. But as shown in your case, it's typically caught very quickly. --76.189.101.221 (talk) 20:36, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

File:MANTIS (intertitle).jpg

Hi, I would like to propose this file File:MANTIS (intertitle).jpg to be a part of Wikipedia Commons. I don't dare to upload it myself because I do not familiar with the Wikipedia Commons and its policy.--NeoBatfreak (talk) 17:30, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Commons do not accept fair use images. If you are planning to use this image in the Wikipedias for other languages, you will have to re-upload it to each one as a local image. -- John of Reading (talk) 17:48, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Feedback from my watched pages not working

It displays for a second, then says—

Sorry, your browser is not supported by this prototype. To see this page, please use a different browser.

I am using Firefox Nightly 20.—Kelvinsong (talk) 17:55, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

"[Firefox Nightly 20] Moves to AURORA on November 19, 2012 ..." Releases - MozillaWiki ~E:74.60.29.141 (talk) 22:31, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Wikipedia lost my user history

I don't make revisions much but it's nice to look back and see my history of ways i contributed.... Wikipedia claims I've done nothing. Why did it delete it? I've made important revisions in my field to a number of articles over the last decade. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Skefos (talk • contribs) 20:42, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Your history is intact: Special:Contributions/Skefos. Where were you looking? RudolfRed (talk) 20:44, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

I'll bet the confusion stemmed from the user clicking on their name somewhere, which of course directed to their user page instead of their contributions, then clicked on "View history" from there. --76.189.101.221 (talk) 20:56, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

editing

how does one edit an existing footnote. The exiting footnote already has the inverted triangles. Do you need to put them in again? Thanks, mike — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.187.74.161 (talk) 22:38, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Edit the footnote in the text where the footnote comes from; it appears in a <ref></ref> element. See Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners for details on how footnotes work. —teb728 t c 23:19, 23 November 2012 (UTC)