Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2013 December 2

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December 2

nasdaw composite page Nasdaq Composite

this prase is at the end of para1. you should monitor this closely as it could expose wikipedia to legal risk for giving investment advice. i presume someone has uploaded it as a prank.

NASDAQ gets you rich 100% of the time, no one has ever lost money. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.108.35.22 (talk) 00:17, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for letting us know, I've reverted that addition :) Samwalton9 (talk) 00:19, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Looking for help using a doohickey

Hi! I may have edited Wikipedia in the past, because I strongly remember that there was a little widget that you could use to add categories to pages by pressing a button where the categories are shown on a page. Is this still around, and if it is, how would you enable it? Thanks, Andrea McGahn (talk) 00:54, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Yes, its called HotCat, and you can enable it in the Gadgets tab of your preferences. ~HueSatLum 01:00, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

information of creating acct

how to write something about me on wikipedia and it can watch every one — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rajankn (talk • contribs) 04:50, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

I have left a welcome message on your userpage with information for you. - Purplewowies (talk) 06:57, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

help

im not good with understanding this site.. I want to see a post about my father Kenneth a hogle who was a amazing artist that had a very successful career as a artist. not a easy thing to do !! he's on line under ken hogle artist and was the only student of pair school of art in new haven ct to be funded by the founders of the school. he studied with ken davis and afew other famous artists. ken hogles art is still wanted by many . ken hogle at the end of his career was doing work for free to help fundraisers involving children. these fundraisers where threw local hospitals and local ymca's in the tampa bay area of florida.. please someone respond and help me post my father on this site — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kennethhogle (talk • contribs) 05:50, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

First, you need to figure out if your father is notable by our standards. If he is, I'd suggest looking at WP:Your first article or WP:Requested articles. - Purplewowies (talk) 07:01, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

I found some source material for Dunedin, Florida artist Kenneth Alan Hogle/Ken Hogle. However, it mostly was mentions of his art (T-Shirts,[1] posters, lithograph) and not much biographical information. -- Jreferee (talk) 06:39, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

I can't log in - please help

Dear Wiki volunteer(s),

I've had an account here from mid 2003. My user name is Lars A. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Lars_A).

I have done occasional small edits - most recently in 2011. Now in 2013 I've tried a few times in recent months to log in but have been denied. Getting the message: "Login error Incorrect password entered. Please try again." My password is easy to remember and I'm certain it is the same one I've always used.

I want to keep being active at the Wikipedia and would like to keep using my old account from 2003. What should I do?

Lars A — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.183.216.175 (talk) 11:15, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Passwords don't expire. You probably misremember the password. Capitalization matters. User:Lars A has not specified an email address so you cannot get a new password without remembering the old. 31 edits isn't a lot to hold onto (I have 30000 and many have more). If you create a new account then you can write on the user pages that both accounts are you, or you can make a redirect from User:Lars A to the new account. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:09, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Is there a template or extension for putting in a blank textarea where the inputted text will be discarded?

I am actually trying to add this functionality to a course in Wikiversity. Wikiversity has a quiz feature which grades multiple choice, exact match, and other small text inputs, but I want tio prompt students to write answers into a textarea, and then click to reveal a rubric or guide to possible correct answers. Rather than reinvent the wheel in Wikiversity, I was hoping that there was already something like that in use in Wikipedia. Is there?

I tried using the Form: namespace according to [2] but I'm either implementing it wrong or it's not available in Wikiversity. Here's the page where I was trying to get a blank input form: [3]

Is there any way I can get this going? Thanks! --Kenmayer (talk) 14:33, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

wikiversity:Special:Version shows installed extensions. mw:Extension:Semantic Forms is not installed. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:14, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Thanks! Do I need to be some type of admin to install this extension in Wikiversity? Sorry for being so clueless. I can't even find a page where I can request that it be installed.--Kenmayer (talk) 19:51, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

I think (but may be mistaken) that that would require something like a 'crat or steward. And possibly consensus? - Purplewowies (talk) 21:42, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

It would require a developer but installing a new extension is a significant decision. You would first need support at Wikiversity and then file a request at Bugzilla which may still be rejected for various reasons like performance, stability, security. I haven't evaluated the specific extension but note that mw:Extension:Semantic Forms requires mw:Extension:Semantic MediaWiki which isn't installed either. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:20, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Thank you again. I'm not even sure that this comprehensive extension (mw:Extension:Semantic Forms) does what I want. Even if it does, it is probably overkill. Is there no way to put a

<textarea>

tag inside a wiki article just so someone can type in a few sentences? Sorry for the bother. If I knew the way, I would go there myself.--Kenmayer (talk) 15:02, 3 December 2013 (UTC)

I'm rethinking this feature and posting for help here. If anyone has any ideas, please weigh in there. Thanks!--Kenmayer (talk) 14:35, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

Non-existing Herman Melville book catalogued on Wikipedia as if it does exist

The Navigation Box appearing on the page for Herman Melville and the individual pages for his works include an item called Isle of the Cross, which possibly is just the working title for another item. In any case, no such Melville work is or ever was available. Yet the box implies that this is a book like any other book. Can this Navigation Box be edited in such a way that this misleading presentation disappears?MackyBeth (talk) 18:35, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

The navigation box itself comes from a template (Template:Herman_Melville) and I note that it says lost next to Isle of the Cross and the article about the book explains that in more detail. You can WP:BE BOLD and remove it from the template, but explain why in your edit summary and be prepared to discuss it with any editor(s) who would like it to stay. CaptRik (talk) 19:13, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for the link to the Template. I just posted my commentary there.MackyBeth (talk) 19:26, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Also WP:LIT might be a good place to discuss if you don't get a reply. Regards, CaptRik (talk) 19:29, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Editing pages

Why can't I edit certain pages? It says I'm not allowed to, but they were edited only a few hours ago! I'm new, so I apologize for any inconvenience caused.3.14Master (talk) 18:57, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Which articles? --Orange Mike | Talk 19:10, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

It's possible that some pages are semi-protected, so that only autoconfirmed users can edit them. This is usually done after a spate of vandalism on a page by several IP editors or new accounts. If there's an edit you want done to a semi-protected page, you can ask at that page's talk page. Howicus (Did I mess up?) 19:12, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Your account will become autoconfirmed after 4 days and at least 10 edits. - Karenjc (talk) 19:15, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

If there is a "View source" tab instead of "Edit" then click the tab for instructions on suggesting an edit. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:59, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Minor Edit

Hi, I mistakenly ticked the "minor edit" box when doing my firt edit. How can I fix it? thanks for your answer! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Swissme213 (talk • contribs) 19:15, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Not to worry! Minor Edit just tags your edit with an m to let other editors know that you think your edit is a relatively small change that shouldn't be controversial. Nothing actually changes about your edit :) Samwalton9 (talk) 19:18, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Samwalton9 beat me to it, but I was going to respond: Don't worry about it. (There isn't much you can do about it, other than making another edit with an edit summary that says the previous edit shouldn't have been marked minor.) Thank you for being concerned. RJFJR (talk) 19:21, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

suddenly my entire page went tiny

I dont know what i did, the other night i was working on wikipedia and suddenly my entire page went tiny, all the fonts are small, like microscopic. I dont know if i pushed a wrong button. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.186.36.153 (talk) 19:22, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Sounds to me like you pressed some keyboard shortcut that zoomed your browser out. You probably accidentally pressed a combination like control-minus (or command-minus on a mac). Howicus (Did I mess up?) 19:31, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

(e/c) It depends on your browser, but you probably scrolled down whilst holding the Control key, or pressed Control -. To reset, many browsers use Control 0 (that's a zero), or try scrolling up and down whilst pressing control, to choose the font size you like best. Arjayay (talk) 19:34, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Uploading a new biography

How do I upload a new biography with pictures.. What format do I use...PDF,, word perfect? or some other format? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Joan Crawford Steel (talk • contribs) 19:58, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Assuming the biographical subject meets our general notability guidelines, and that the subject of the article is not yourself, your best bet would be to create your article through our Articles for Creation system. You might also consider reading these tips for writing your first article. Cyphoidbomb (talk) 20:18, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

The format is called (informally) 'wikimarkup'. It's a markup language specific to wikimedia. See Help:Wiki markup. RJFJR (talk) 20:22, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

If you intend to include images in your new article, you will have to upload them separately either to Wikipedia or to Wikimedia Commons, and then add them to your article. In order to upload images you must either hold the copyright in them, or gain permission from the copyright holder, or supply an acceptable rationale as to why they qualify for fair use in your article. See Wikipedia:Uploading images for more information. - Karenjc (talk) 12:57, 3 December 2013 (UTC)

Posting a photo

I have an article on Wikipedia. I have a photo I own that I would like to post on the article but the instructions are very complicated. Can you walk me through the procedure? Thanks. My name is Bill Stephens Bill Stephens 20:55, 2 December 2013 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cobraviper 99 (talk • contribs)

I have fixed [4] the image code for a photo uploaded by User:Cobraviper 99 an hour ago. Is that it? PrimeHunter (talk) 21:42, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

There are two copies of the photograph on English Wikipedia. File:Bill-NBC.jpg was uploaded by Cobraviper 99 in July 2007, and File:Bill Stephens.jpg was uploaded by Cobraviper 99 in July 2012. You say you own the photo – but do you own its copyright? Did you operate the camera yourself? If not, you should not have uploaded it (twice) claiming it was your own work. If you do own the copyright, we would appreciate it if you would also upload it to Wikimedia Commons, so that it could also be used in Spanish Wikipedia, French Wikipedia, etc. But I, at least, would sympathise if you decide to avoid the further difficult bureaucracy that this will involve. Maproom (talk) 00:02, 3 December 2013 (UTC)