Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2013 March 16

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March 16

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two questions

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a.) I would very much appreciate some editing guidance. The subject of the Gwon Beop article may be well served by addressing each of the Boxing methods listed. IMHO this would mean 32 sub-chapters which may make the overall article unwieldy and bordering on a tome. Alternately each of the Boxing methods could be addressed as a separate article though perhaps of insufficient material, say about a paragraph. Is there some function in WIKI editing that might offer a reasonable compromise between the two options? Thoughts?
b.) I have recently noticed that a parallel article exists to the Korean Swordsmanship article called Korean Sword. IMHO I believe my scholarship may surpass that of the other article though there are some aspects of that article which would add to the article I am editing. How does one go about reconciling two inequal articles of approximate subject matter and theme. Help?--Bruce W Sims (talk) 23:50, 18 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Re: Gwonbeop: Assuming we're talking about the two lists of moves (at Gwonbeop § General Qi Ji-guang and Gwonbeop § MUYE TOBO TONG JI (“Comprehensive Illustrated Manual of Martial Arts”)), making separate articles for each of the 86 moves seems wrong. It does make sense, however, to move them out of the main article. I'd move the two lists of moves to their own articles, with short descriptions of each, and a "See..." note at the top of the section in the main article. Also, the title of the second section should be changed to conform to MOS (un-cap, "" not “” (also elsewhere in the article), shorten to necessary description (is "MUYE TOBO TONG JI" the author or what?).
Re: b.) Read WP:MERGE?
—[AlanM1(talk)]— 17:17, 19 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

User delete request

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Please delete USER:L.D.SARGENT page, she no longer wants a wikipedia page until further notice. At which time she will provide all the pertinent information. Thx http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:L.D._Sargent — Preceding unsigned comment added by Henry LTYL (talkcontribs) 00:46, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Users cannot be deleted, and that page is already blank. If more is needed, check out WP:VANISH RudolfRed (talk) 01:47, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

"remember me for 180 days" checkbox doesn't work

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I don't know if it has something to do with my security settings (as far as I know, cookies are enabled and I don't believe my security settings should prevent Wikipedia from remembering my password). It's frustrating. Every single day, I sign in, click "remember me (up to 180 days)" etc... and do the same thing again the next day, since it doesn't remember that I'm logged in. Rourke (talk) 02:10, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Which browser, version are you using? You might be browsing in private mode. --Ushau97 talk contribs 06:24, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
No, I'm definitely not in private mode. I'm using Firefox 18.0.2. --Rourke (talk) 07:19, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Some browsers can be set to delete all your cookies when you exit. This would lose the "remember me" data. -- John of Reading (talk) 06:51, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I worry that I might have checked a box somewhere to do just that, and I don't know where I might fix that in settings. Maybe it's more of a Firefox question than a Wikipedia question? --Rourke (talk) 07:19, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
In Firefox, see whether you've ticked "Tools > Options > Privacy > Clear history when Firefox closes". If that's ticked, the "Settings" button will tell you whether you are deleting your cookies that way. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:24, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I just looked. That box isn't checked, so that's not the answer. Rourke (talk) 00:50, 28 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I've had the issue, too, with FFox 18 on Win7. The machine is either up and being used or hibernating continuously, with reboots every week or two. Sometimes, I'll be actively editing and go to save a page and it suddenly tells me I'm not logged in. Sometimes, I see than I'm not logged in when following a link from another page (which shows I am logged in at the top) – i.e. it changes from one minute to the next. It seems to "forget" me every 36 hours or so. —[AlanM1(talk)]— 22:15, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]


Do you ever hit "Log out"? This seems to reset the option for every session on every machine. Яehevkor 22:22, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Er, do you mean "log out of Firefox, then log back in"? If so, unlike my other browser, I can't figure out how to do that... and if you mean "log out of Wikipedia, then log back in" I've tried that a million times. It doesn't work. Rourke (talk) 00:54, 28 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

"File Not Found" in Wikipedia Book Creator

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Hi...I am attempting to create and print a PDF file of a book on Wikipedia Book Creator...the book seems to be laying out and rendering okay, but when I go to download it to my computer, it delays for about 15 seconds, then gives me a File Not Found message and tells me that the book does not exist. What am I doing wrong? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.150.235.146 (talk) 05:54, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Are you doing the way it is in Help:Books --Ushau97 talk contribs 06:17, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
You have to have an autoconfirmed user account to download books, see Help:Books#Saving and sharing your book with others.--ukexpat (talk) 00:56, 17 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Famous French speakers

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Hi all,

I'm French and I've just watched an interview of the Mayor of London Boris Johnson in French in a media. I didn't know he could speak French so I added it on his article. Actually the ex Prime Minister Tony Blair also speaks our language very well. Do you think it would be interesting to create a Wikipedia article about famous people who are/were foreign French speakers? The list includes some Hollywood celebrities like Robin Williams, Jodie Foster, Daniel Bruhl, Christof Waltz or Johnny Depp and foreign politicians like 6 US Presidents, the queen Elizabeth II, Silvio Berlusconi, etc.

92.98.91.119 (talk) 06:39, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think this is suitable for an encyclopaedia article, but others may disagree with me. What I am sure is that not one person should appear in the article without a reference to a reliable independent source that discusses his or her ability to speak French. Anything else, including links to recordings of the people speaking French (and, therefore, the thing you say you have added to Boris Johnson) would be original research, and not permitted in Wikipedia. --ColinFine (talk) 18:46, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Such a list would be so long that a list of famous people who don't speak French might actually be shorter, particularly if speak means ability to get through dinner or get around town is included (and how would we define something so subjective?). Further, someone would want a list of famous English-speakers and Spanish-speakers, etc.
An {{Infobox person}} element for languages spoken could be useful, though, as could categories (e.g. Category:People who speak French) which automatically generate such lists.
—[AlanM1(talk)]— 22:08, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, I just wanted to say that I am disturbed and concerned by Wikipedia's promotion of an SS division on it's front page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.0.94.14 (talk) 07:22, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

As far as I can see, the article follows a neutral point of view in the intro (I read only the introduction so if there is anything in the article, elsewhere, which does not follow NPOV, I might not have seen it). If there is an excerpt in the article which does not follow NPOV please specify it, so that we can remove it. --Ushau97 talk contribs 08:31, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
To request that the link be removed from the main page, begin a discussion at the Main Page "errors" page. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:37, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
But Wikipedia is not censored. --ColinFine (talk) 18:49, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
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Hello. I see some people place the links to Wikiquote, Wikisource, Commons, etc., under the "See also" section, while others place them under "External links". Which one is the correct place? Thanks. ~ Daniel Tomé (talk) 13:07, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Daniel. Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Layout#Links to sister projects speaks on this issue. It doesn't have a simple yes or no answer but contains caveats and exceptions so I'll simply refer you there, rather than repeat at any length.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 16:01, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks very much, I understand now. ~ Daniel Tomé (talk) 18:16, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Question

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Hi all, when I was 4, I came in the Netherlands, but I did not have time to learn Dutch, but when I was 14 I got a girlfriend, but who understands me not, but I understand her, and to her parents I talk German, and against my Parents Portuguese, but I'm in a special school only about 1% of the children and teachers understand me. And I had a German taxi driver in German which I sometimes told stories about my life until my fourth in Portugal, but she is dismissed and I'm quite sad about it, and now I have a Dutch taxi driver and who understands me not, so you know a site where I can learn the Dutch language for free? (Portuguese site please) — Preceding unsigned comment added by JoãoDave (talkcontribs) 14:00, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Just like your girlfriend, I understand you not. Anyway, if you are looking for a website to learn a new language for free, you can fin it there: www.google.com 92.97.154.11 (talk) 17:44, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
This is the help desk for how to edit Wikipedia. I think 92.97.154.11 is suggesting that you will be able to find such sites by searching in Google. But if you are in the Netherlands, I would have thought you would get more help from people round you than from a website. --ColinFine (talk) 18:52, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, Thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by JoãoDave (talkcontribs) 19:31, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

You may read the article on Portuguese Wikibooks (sister of Wikipedia):https://pt.wikibooks.org/wiki/Holand%C3%AAs
and the article on Portuguese Wikipedia:https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%ADngua_neerlandesa
Hope this helps in some way. Regards···Vanischenu「m/Talk」 22:02, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Adding photos

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How can I add photos to the articles I have contributed? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.57.10.59 (talk) 16:05, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

  • If you want to upload an image from your computer for use in an article, you must determine the proper license of the image (or whether it is in the public domain). If you know the image is public domain or copyrighted but under a suitable free-license, upload it to the Wikimedia Commons instead of here, so that all projects have access to the image (sign up). If you are unsure of the licensing status, see the file upload wizard for more information. Please also read Wikipedia's image use policy.
  • If you want to add an image that has already been uploaded to Wikipedia or Wikimedia Commons, add [[File:File name.jpg|thumb|Caption text]] to the area of the article where you want the image to appear – replacing File name.jpg with the actual file name of the image, and Caption text with a short description of the image. See our picture tutorial for more information. I hope this helps.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 16:06, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I copied a text from my own website

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Hello,

I copied a text from my own website for Corporate Identity reasons. But therefor my wikipage was deleted just after publishing.

Can I somehow keep my text in my wikipage as on my webpage?

I can verify the ownership of my site as well if you need that. I could quickly upload an image or a code onto my site to verify.

Please help me.

Thanks and have a nice day!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tamil-Singles (talkcontribs) 17:17, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I see that you are trying to use Wikipedia to promote your web site. This is not the purpose of Wikipedia, it is an encyclopedia. Please find some other way to promote your site. Maproom (talk) 17:23, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
It is possible to grant permission to avoid the copyright reason for deletion, but it be pointless as the article was blatant promotion and would be deleted again anyway. I doubt that website is Notable, but even if it was, you would be better off to starting from scratch to write an article that meets our standards anyway. Monty845 17:50, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Please read WP:CORP. —[AlanM1(talk)]— 21:56, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
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Hi, Links from both "Hello and Goodbye" and the Athol Fugard page under the same title go to the EVITA (musical) page. Tried every possible solution I can think of, but same result. Otherwise, AMAZING work!!! Steve — Preceding unsigned comment added by StevNor (talkcontribs) 17:55, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I think I understand what you are pointing out. If I am right, I have fixed it.
"Hello and Goodbye" is the name of a play by Athol Fugard. It is also the name of a song in the musical "Evita". Some editor has created a redirect from Hello and Goodbye to Evita (musical); I don't know enough to judge whether this is appropriate. Some other editor had made "Hello and Goodbye" in the list of Fugard's plays into a link; this was not appropriate, as it took the reader to the "Evita" article. I have removed that link. Maproom (talk) 18:15, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I have changed Hello and Goodbye into a disambiguation page with four entries (so far). (I've also created a redlink at Athol Fugard) Roger (talk) 06:50, 18 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Colan

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On the page for Colan, Cornwall there is a link to another page for Fir Hill Manor which contains a footnote to an article from Daily Mail Online and in that rticle is a website called StopGuardianAbuse which makes untrue and defamatory statements about myself and my family. I tried editing the article to remove the libelous material but learned that I need to oontact someone at Wikipedia by sending this email. I request that the article from the Daily Mail containing the website link be removed because it makes insulting and unfair claims that are very hurtful to myself and my family. Thank you!---- — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kathleen auld (talkcontribs) 19:20, 16 March 2013‎

I've removed the comment you placed in the article Fir Hill Manor because it doesn't belong there.
If you have a problem with the contents of an article at the Daily Mail Online, you need to get them to edit their article or print a retraction, or get someone else to write an article disputing it, or provide some sort of evidence that the story is untrue as written. Without this information from other reliable sources we have to assume the article is reliable as it stands, and our citation of it must stand.
If your problem is solely with the contents of the StopGuardianAbuse.org website linked to in that article, again, you would need to contact them directly to get it corrected. Alternatively, you might be able to get the Daily Mail to remove their link to it if you can prove it to be harmful in some way. Removing the link from WP to an article that simply contains a link to a third site that you have a problem with is not appropriate. If that were OK, and extended to links to links to links, etc., we'd eventually have no articles and no links to anywhere.
—[AlanM1(talk)]— 21:51, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I agree with AlanM1. I have read the Daily Mail article – The Daily Mail is certainly not my favourite newspaper, but in this instance it seems to have written a reasonable piece. I have also followed and read its link to the "StopGuardianAbuse" site. This is far less credible – it is not what Wikipedia would call a "reputable source". It starts by describing Peggy as John's sister, and ends by calling her his wife, then widow; so it is clear that its writer is not reliable.
However, Wikipedia does not cite the "StopGuardianAbuse" site. You have no grounds for complaint against Wikipedia. You could more reasonably complain to The Daily Mail for citing an obviously unreliable web page (though all it does is say "according to"); or sue the "StopGuardianAbuse" site for libel. Maproom (talk) 00:36, 17 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Miszabot Problem

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Regarding the WP:PAIDHELP noticeboard and its archives, Miszabot is meant to archive sections whenever the comments are older than a month, but there's still stuff from December that hasn't been archived. I know that David Levy recently moved the article titles to the correct capitalization, but that was very recently and Miszabot inexplicably stopped archiving long before that. Did something break in the code or the instructions or something? SilverserenC 20:29, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

There's only one thread there that is older than 30 days. The instructions at the top of the page don't set the "minthreadstoarchive" parameter, and the documentation says that the default for this parameter is 2. So currently the bot is not removing anything because it's been told that the edit would be too small. You can test this either by adding "minthreadstoarchive = 1" to the instructions, or waiting another few days until all the "17 February" threads are more than 30 days old. -- John of Reading (talk) 22:00, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Large size JPG download failure

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File:Qing Dynasty Map durnig Xinhai Revolution.JPG [sic]

contains a link to the full resolution image ‎(6,400 × 9,200 pixels, file size: 23.58 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

When I attempt to download this full res. image the connection is dropped before the transfer is complete. The break may occur anywhere from 4MB to 22MB thru the download, seemingly at random. I've tried different browsers, even "curl -v --retry 3" which doesn't tell me anything useful. I'm suspecting the problem is not at my end because I have no trouble downloading other files this size or larger from other sites, including jpeg files to 30MB. I've waited four weeks before retrying in case I was getting a broken version cached somewhere in your global system, but still no go. ??

203.211.83.4 (talk) 22:32, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The file downloads fine for me, so I don't think the problem is on Wikimedia's end. RudolfRed (talk) 23:23, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for drawing my attention to such an interesting map! I have downloaded all 24 MB of it without any problem. Maproom (talk) 00:43, 17 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
There are downloading tools (download managers, etc.) -- But one needs to be wary of Adware, etc. (These tools can resume downloads even if you get bumped off in the middle). Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing might be a good place for suggestions regarding downloading a large file. ~:74.60.29.141 (talk) 04:37, 17 March 2013 (UTC):~[reply]