Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2013 June 10

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June 10

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)

I'm a former crewmember of the 'IKE' and noticed several parts of the Deployment History were in need of citations for validation of the affected passages. What type of information is considered a bona fide source of information? I have four cruise books, one for each deployment when I was aboard the carrier, and may be able to access and cite other sources as needed to help out. Thank you for your time and assistance in this matter. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Don tireman (talk • contribs) 02:37, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Hi Don. What we look for are reliable, published, independent, secondary sources (though published primary sources can be used carefully). Think reputable books, newspaper articles, magazine write ups, television documentaries, etc., reporting on matters with which they are unconnected. I emphasized the word published because I got the impression from what you wrote that the "cruise books" are like logs taken from the ship that may be unpublished (but after looking and finding sites like this one my impression may be unfounded). If they have been published they can be used, though we would certainly prefer a secondary source.

We could always use a helping hand, especially by someone who understands the source material in the way you must, having lived it. That lack of distance can also be a two edged sword because you know things that are not in sources. Please just remember that we don't allow original research; as a tertiary source, Wikipedia articles properly synthesize what published secondary and primary sources have already said about a topic, and we do so using neutral language and content. If you need help with the technical aspects of citing sources, I would start with referencing for beginners, and you could always drop us a note here. Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:29, 10 June 2013 (UTC) Thanks for the help. The site you listed is the best thing I have available to me, and should meet the source requirement, as it is a published Web source, short of something coming from the ship's Public Affairs Office. The 'cruise books,' although not published for the general public, contain unclassified general information about where the ship(s) went on their deployments, dates of port visits and other information and are in the hands of thousands of crewmembers who have been aboard throughout the ship's service history. Sincerely, Don Tireman Don tireman (talk) 18:48, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Robert Marien

Bonjour,

Sur la page française de Wikipédia, Robert Marien est né en 1955, sur la page Wikipédia anglaise, il est né en 1956, et sur IMDB il est aussi né en 1956...peut-être la page française est-elle fausse. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.30.92.181 (talk) 03:16, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

My French isn't that good, but this indicates 1955, if Mr. Marien is being quoted (I can't tell). -- John Broughton (♫♫) 03:59, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

You're right, John Broughton. --ColinFine (talk) 21:56, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Arranging userboxes

Hi there, I'm normally good with coding, but I'm having a bad day. Could someone give me some pointers on how to arrange userboxes on my page?

Preferably neatly arranged in a table with borders, but anything works.

Thanks alot,

Dantheman4297 (talk) 08:04, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

On My userpage, I use the following :-

{| name="userboxes" id="userboxes" style="float: right; margin-top: 2em; margin-right: 1em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; width: 242px; border: #99B3FF solid 1px; clear: right" |-
| style="text-align: center"
|-
|}

Just put the userboxes in like this -

|-
| {{USERBOX}}
|-

Hope that's clear :) Mdann52 (talk) 08:34, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Mine are in a table with each row a different type/theme of userboxes - take a look. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 08:48, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for your help, but I still don't get it? Do you have permission to edit my user page and do it for me? If so can you do it please? Thanks,

Dantheman4297 (talk) 08:57, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

I've made an edit, padding each user box to the same depth so that they arrange themselves neatly. Any good? Feel free to undo it, of course. -- John of Reading (talk) 10:01, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

It's great, I really like it. Thanks so much for your help, it is exactly what I wanted.

Thanks,
Dantheman4297 (talk) 23:54, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

can an article about the SEF be added please?

http : // www . sef.scot.nhs . uk/ Scottish Enhanced Functionality - health board (SEF) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.254.184.38 (talk) 08:55, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Here is a correctly formatted version of the URL: http://www.sef.scot.nhs.uk/ . It seems to me unlikely that this organisation is notable enough to justify a Wikipedia article about it. Maproom (talk) 09:51, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

How to change the headline

There is an article in English about the Amiga game called "Turboraketti II". The headline is misleading because there is no such game. "Turboraketti" does exist but it doesn't have a sequel (although many sources in Internet suggests so). In the Finnish version of the same article there is a link to the review where the creator of the game explains that there is a beta version and the final version of the same game and some people think that the final version is the sequel but that's not true. How can I change the headline "Turboraketti II" to "Turboraketti"? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Testerinen (talk • contribs) 12:51, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

 Done - you are unable to change titles, as you are not part of the right user groups yet. You need 10 edits, and 4 days on Wikipedia to move pages. Mdann52 (talk) 12:57, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Vandalism revert please

Could someone please revert the vandalism to Note 31 at List of longest runways. I can't see how to fix it. Thanks.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 13:07, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Dealt with. Yunshui 雲‍水 13:11, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Making large scale edits to a page

I am an employee of Alpha International and we are looking to update ~30% of the content on the Alpha course page (Alpha course). Please could you advise on what is best practice in carrying out large edits. All 'new' content is in line with the organisation's development and re-branding. I welcome your recommendations.Lsimpson2013 (talk) 14:01, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Don't - you have a clear conflict of interest in editing the page at all - please read our policy here. If you wish to suggest changes on the talk page, and provide reliable third party sources for these - not your own primary sources - then an uninvolved editor wiill make the appropriate changes. Arjayay (talk) 14:11, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

That article is already too promotional, and many of the references it cites are clearly not independent. Maproom (talk) 15:50, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

and one which claimed to be from "The Independent on Sunday" (a respected UK newspaper) was in fact from the organisation's own web site. Maproom (talk) 15:57, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Also see WP:NOT, since you may not have a clear sense of what the rules here say that Wikipedia articles should and should not be. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 00:42, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Help needed

How do I site an internet reference? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Avkendall (talk • contribs) 15:42, 10 June 2013‎ (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources and Template:Cite web. Dru of Id (talk) 15:55, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Can you "unthank" someone?

Recently there has appeared a new "thank" link when you look at an article's history. Since it is right next to the "undo" link, and is located right where the "undo" button used to be, I have accidently clicked it when trying to undo a bad edit. Is there a way for me to undo thanking someone for a bad edit? Deli nk (talk) 18:08, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Wait. This question was recently raised at Wikipedia talk:Notifications/Thanks, and they've put together a solution, which I quote: Per the feedback we received on the problems with the Thank links, we've added a confirmation step: https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/#/c/67591/. The code still needs to be reviewed and merged, but it should go out some time in the next few weeks. Kaldari (talk) 04:34, 9 June 2013 (UTC). Basically, there's nothing you can do about it right now, but once they get this software update finished, you'll be asked to confirm that you've clicked the right button. I don't think an undo feature would be workable — the recipient is notified immediately, so undoing a thanks would be as impossible as un-sending an email. Nyttend (talk) 18:13, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

That would be a good solution. Thanks! Deli nk (talk) 18:18, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

EDIT AN IMAGE

There is a photo of me on my page that I did not place there. I don't like it and want to replace or remove it. How do I go about this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.79.228.177 (talk) 19:15, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

There is nothing at all on your user page so you will have to give us more specific information. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 19:41, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

If you mean that there is an article about you in the encyclopaedia and you want to provide a better image to replace the existing one, you can do this, but you must (a) own the copyright or get the copyright holder's permission (and prove it), and (b) be prepared to license it appropriately so that other people can take it and reuse it afterwards. You cannot, for example, upload an image if you are only prepared to allow it to be used on Wikipedia. Information is at Wikipedia:Uploading images. Once you have successfully uploaded a suitable image under an appropriate licence, you can insert it into the article - see Wikipedia:Picture tutorial. If you are removing the existing picture, it would be good practice to discuss your grounds for doing so on the article's talk page: for example, if the new image is more recent or of a better quality than the old one, or you are more recognisable in it, then those would be good grounds for the change. Please read WP:COI so that you are aware of the potential problems of making changes to articles with which you have a close association. - Karenjc 20:35, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Searching a wikipedia article for keywords

Once I am reading an article, I would like to be able to search within the article and have it highlight all the instances of a word or phrase within the article. I read the advanced search information, and if the information I want was there, I wasn't able to understand it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by R Stillwater (talk • contribs) 19:17, 10 June 2013 (UTC) RStillwater (talk) 19:19, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Hold down the CTRL key and press F. A small search box will appear in any browser. Type your word there. — The Potato Hose 19:29, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Or Command-F on a Mac. Howicus (talk) 19:45, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

To add to what the Potato Host and Howicus said: this is a function Wikipedia does not provide, because all modern browsers do provide it. --ColinFine (talk) 22:00, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

But it's an extremely useful feature many people (apparently an amazing 90% [1]) don't know so I have added it to Help:Searching.[2] PrimeHunter (talk) 22:14, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

That is fascinating. 90%. I must use it 50 times a day.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 11:52, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

I agree, I use it all the time. I recently was helping someone do something, told them to Control-F and they did, but their response indicated that it was new to them. I was stunned. --SPhilbrick(Talk) 16:45, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Switch Communications

Switch Communications official name has been change to Switch and their website is now http://www.switchlv.com/

Change needs to be made on the following page:

Switch Communications — Preceding unsigned comment added by 38.80.204.77 (talk) 19:43, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

The article has been updated and moved to Switch (company). PrimeHunter (talk) 21:50, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

destroyers at nomnandy omission

uss Herndon dd638 on station off beach before any landings june sixth

provided fire support for troops in naval ships history — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.77.165.140 (talk) 20:24, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

If you think any change should be made to the article USS Herndon (DD-638), you should suggest it on that article's talk page, Talk:USS Herndon (DD-638). However, it appears to me that that info is already there. Rojomoke (talk) 21:29, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Show Improved Diff View not working

I have the green "show improved diff view" delta on my diff pages. It stopped working about a month ago, without my having made any changes I am aware of to my settings, same computer, same browser, etc. Now I get a one-line deep empty box below the delta with no diff shown when I click on it. Any suggestions on how to get back the actual enhanced view? Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 20:59, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

It works for me. Try to clear your entire cache. What is your browser and skin? PrimeHunter (talk) 21:45, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

I use Safari and Monobook. I have purged my cache through the browser and using shift reload. Still just getting an empty box under the green delta after I click on it. μηδείς (talk) 21:50, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Perhaps someone could tell me how to turn the function off entirely, then how to restore it? I searched the archives for this, and the preferences, and am clueless at this point. Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 22:01, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Safari is not listed at User:Cacycle/wikEdDiff#Supported browsers. I have tested Safari on Windows Vista and it also fails for me in both Monobook and Vector. You have it in User:Medeis/vector.js but if you use Monobook then that code is not activated so you must have enabled wikEdDiff or wikEd at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets. You said "It stopped working about a month ago" and User:Cacycle/wikEdDiff.js was edited 15 May. Maybe that broke something in Safari which is apparently not among the officially supported browsers, so changes may not be tested in Safari. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:34, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

I don't know JavaScript but my testing shows it was indeed the 15 May update from wikEdDiff 0.9.17 to 0.9.18 which broke it in Safari. I copied the old version to User:PrimeHunter/wikEdDiff 0.9.17.js, disabled wikEdDiff at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets and added this to Special:MyPage/common.js:

importScript('User:PrimeHunter/wikEdDiff 0.9.17.js');

I don't know which 0.9.18 changes may be missed but at least it runs in Safari. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:49, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

I have posted the issue to User talk:Cacycle/wikEdDiff#Version 0.9.18 broken in Safari. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:58, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Thanks. I created User:Medeis/common.js with [3] with the suggested script, used the browser empty cache function, as well as shift reload, and rebooted. I am still not getting the enhanced diff. I requested help before adding a special page for script that lets me click an X on my watchlist to unwatch a page. I had no difficulty creating it, but it didn't work until someone came along last week and did something to "approve" the page. Do I need an admin's attention on this page I just created to get it working? And do these scripts need to be on the same page, or their own pages? Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 00:24, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

User:Medeis/common.js is right and doesn't require someone to do something. I have the same code at User:PrimeHunter/common.js. Did you remember to disable wikEd/wikEdDiff at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets? Others cannot do it for you. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:52, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Haha! I just came back to say that I had forgotten to disable the gadget, and now that I have done so it works!

You guys are amazing. (To think I can write the line code to give you free Bell Telephone service for life....)

Thanks! μηδείς (talk) 00:57, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Great! Note that if you should later change skin to Vector then you will have the same version conflict because User:Medeis/vector.js loads the current wikEdDiff version. User:Medeis/common.js is loaded in all skins. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:06, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

I'll keep that in mind. But, frankly, if I could go back to Netscape 2.0 I would. μηδείς (talk) 01:07, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Resolved

Mass re-formatting of dates

The references in List of libertarians in the United States, due to its previous incarnation as List of libertarians, use exclusively date-before-month style dates, whereas the article's national specificity now requires date-before-month per WP:STRONGNAT. Is there any tool I can use to quickly and painlessly change them to the correct format? I'm aware of WP:AWB but don't really have access to a PC on which I can install software. – Arms & Hearts (talk) 21:24, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

You can tag the article with {{Use mdy dates}}; the documentation there notes that the purpose of the tag is to flag the article for a bot to systematically keep all of the dates of the correct format; though I don't know one way or the other if this has been implemented. --Jayron32 21:31, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

I'm not sure I understand that documentation. There are more than 35,000 articles with that template (visible only in edit mode); if there is a bot involved, it would have to be one that swept through all 35,000 articles periodically, or monitored recent changes against a list of over 35,000 articles.

More practically, one might look at Wikipedia:Date formattings#Tools. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 00:38, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Thanks, User:Ohconfucius/script/MOSNUM dates did the trick. – Arms & Hearts (talk) 17:31, 12 June 2013 (UTC)