Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2013 May 6

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May 6

'I suspect, based on your question'

The language: "I suspect, based on your question ..." is frequently used in response to questions that are not about how to use Wikipedia but about general knowledge. Is there a template that substitutes that language? Robert McClenon (talk) 00:08, 6 May 2013 (UTC) ~

It's from {{Astray}}. Like many other templates intended for subsitution, it leaves its name as a comment in the source: <!-- Template:Astray -->. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:28, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Userboxes

I want to put userboxes on my user page. What page are the userboxes on? Robert McClenon (talk) 00:06, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

You can start on Wikipedia:Userboxes/Gallery. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:29, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

The gallery is more useful than the category of categories. Thanks. Robert McClenon (talk) 17:30, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

The entire collection is available at Category:Userboxes. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 07:02, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Thank you. The entire category of categories is so large that it is difficult to navigate, but I will just muddle along. Robert McClenon (talk) 16:47, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Language Template for Article Talk Page

Where are the templates that can be put on article talk pages to specify what national version of English should be used for an article? (I am not referring to an article about a place or a historical event associated with a country or a biography, because in those the language should usually be obvious.) Robert McClenon (talk) 00:11, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Category:Varieties of English templates. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:34, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Relatively straightforward. Thank you. Robert McClenon (talk) 02:08, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

User talk deletion

I'm incredibly confused on whether or not this is in the help section so I apologize if it is. A while back I left my wikipedia account up and a friend went on it and posted obscene things and of course they were removed, but I don't want them showing up in my user talk page or my contributions tab. Can you please explain how I can have my user talk contributions deleted in a simple way? Or if I can delete the individual contributions? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Haharyne (talk • contribs) 01:25, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

I have deleted the revision. Only admins have the ability to see it now. GB fan 01:33, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Wrong photograph

Hello! My name is S.D. Perry, I'm a writer, and some nice person created a Wiki page for me. However, the photograph that appears on the page is NOT ME. I have no idea who it is. I would be happy to submit a picture, if you like, but either way, the picture on my Wiki page should be removed.

Thank you for your time! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.160.186.85 (talk) 02:19, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Which article are you referring to? I don't see any photo at S. D. Perry RudolfRed (talk) 02:24, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Are you by any chance referring to a photo shown to the right of a Google search on S. D. Perry? Google's Knowledge Graph uses a wide variety of sources. There may be a text paragraph ending with "Wikipedia" to indicate that particular text was copied from Wikipedia. An image and other text before or after the Wikipedia excerpt can be from sources completely unrelated to Wikipedia. We have no control over how Google presents our information. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:32, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

If PrimeHunter is correct and that is the photo you mean, clicking on it takes you to shelfari.com. You need to talk to them. Rojomoke (talk) 05:04, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

As Google's Knowledge Graph appears to be resulting in a lot of questions at the Help Desk I have just created a new standard response template, based on PrimeHunter's response above. You can find it at {{HD/GKG}}. As with all HD response templates, it should be substituted.--ukexpat (talk) 15:16, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Problem with Template:Infobox rail line on New Haven Line

Looking at New Haven Line, it appears that {{Infobox rail line}} is supposed to appear on the page, but the infobox is not showing up there. The only sign of the infobox I see is the words Template:Infobox above the first paragraph of text. Can anyone help figure out why the infobox is not displaying properly? Thanks. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 03:39, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

• Update: I figured out that what was causing the infobox to malfunction was the following line in the infobox:

map= {{infobox rdt|New Haven Line map|navbar=1}}

I removed that line and the infobox showed up again. However, this removal means that the route map is gone from the infobox. Is there any way to have the infobox and include the route map within it too? --Metropolitan90 (talk) 04:03, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

When I tried adding it back in, I got a message "Warning: Template include size is too large. Some templates will not be included.". So that5 is the reason for the problem. I don't know if there's anything you can do about it though: perhaps put the route map separate from the infobox? --ColinFine (talk) 10:43, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

User:Original beauty 1/sandbox

Hey this site was about me and is the first thing that comes up when you look up my name, I don't know who wrote it but it was really accurate and pretty mean. I removed the content but could you please remove the webpage as it keeps coming up as the first search link. Thanks so much 198.151.130.129 (talk) 05:43, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

• The page has been deleted from Wikipedia. I don't know if anything can be done about cached copies of the page as it used to be showing up in search results, but they should eventually disappear. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 06:04, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Bodhtree

Hi, I have created my page several times but it is getting deleted, can u please share some useful points how to create a new page and edit the page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 182.72.66.222 (talk) 06:31, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Sandbox is a public page where new users can experiment with editing - anything you do there will quickly be overwritten by others so it's not a suitable place to draft articles. See Wikipedia:Your first article for instructions on creating a new article, and Help:Editing for editing tips. Please note that Wikipedia already has an article about Search engine optimization - any additional content or improvements on the subject would go into the existing article rather than a new one. - Karenjc 08:28, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Task force without WikiProject

Is it okay to create a task force that is not attached to a WikiProject? -- Toshio Yamaguchi 09:28, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

While there's certainly no rule against it, I don't think it would be properly called a "task force" in that case. WP:TASKFORCE says that a task force is a "non-independent subgroup of a larger WikiProject," so I think a parent WikiProject is a necessary condition for calling something a task force, and thus whatever it is that you're interested in creating would likely go by a different name. What is it exactly that you want to create? Sophus Bie ^(talk) 10:13, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Well, that's a bit of a longer story. I am an NFCC enforcer and perform a task to identify and deal with 10c violations as outlined at User:Toshio Yamaguchi/NFCC task. That task was originally supposed to be performed by a bot. Unfortunately, that bot never materialized (not due to lack of consensus for such a bot I think, but because nobody coded it). After that was clear, I took over the bots task myself and I am performing the task as outlined on that page. However, the number of violations is huge and I my progress is rather slow, so I would definitely appreciate any helping hands on that task. -- Toshio Yamaguchi 10:22, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Also, I do not have an estimate of many people would be interested in joining that task force (not too many I guess). Many of the NFCC patrollers (including myself) are active at WP:NFCR. However, bringing all 10c violations there is not possible, because there are too many of them and NFCR is already backlogged. I personally only bring NFCC#8 vios there or cases where I suspect the file shouldn't be tagged as NFC at all and the task I perform is supposed to handle the 10c violations without bringing them to NFCR. -- Toshio Yamaguchi 10:46, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Aha! That's a lot of work for one person; I can see why you'd want to organize a group to work on it. I think what you want to create would be called a WikiProject proper, à la Wikipedia:Typo Team, for example. No one says that WikiProjects have to be centered around broad topics, after all. Wikipedia:WikiProject_Council/Directory/Wikipedia lists all sorts of projects dedicated to very specific tasks. Sophus Bie ^(talk) 12:15, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Mhm, I would have to think about how to go about that, since I already tried to establish a WikiProject for that purpose and failed. It's definitely an extremely sensitive area. On the other hand, I've experienced few problems with performing this task so far. So a coordinated effort might be viable as long as each participant tries not to act like a brainless bot and tries to follow the rules for the task. -- Toshio Yamaguchi 13:48, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Well, that's a bummer. If you do decide to attempt the creation again, I noticed that User:Sven_Manguard, who seemed to be your main opposition, wrote, "Thinking about supporting it this time around." at the bottom of the page, so perhaps you'll have more success with a second try? Sophus Bie ^(talk) 14:22, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

I won't support or oppose any efforts. I've moved away active NFCC enforcement because I find the whole of non-free content soul-crushing, so I'm not going to support it, but if Toshio has been able to do it uncontroversially for all this time, I'm not going to oppose it either. Sven Manguard Wha? 15:36, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

My bio taken down

You used to have an accurate bio on me lacking the fact I am a high time FAA Blue seal Private Pilot. Somebody took it down and put up careful slander. Please restore correct version with above addition. Also May 16 1996 cover page of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL above the fold had my picture and said I was #5 national Talk Host. Chuck Harder 174.131.120.2 (talk) 11:36, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

You seem to be referring to Chuck Harder, which was deleted after Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Chuck Harder. Please raise this at Wikipedia:Deletion review (see the instructions at the top of that page). Given the Articles for deletion discussion with 3 keep and 2 delete votes I think there is a chance that the page might be restored. -- Toshio Yamaguchi 11:52, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia Entry for GlobalCollect

My company's page, GlobalCollect, was deleted almost five years ago for overtly commercial text. I fully understand and respect Wikipedia guidelines, but it can't have been the intention for the company to have received a "lifetime ban". How can APPROPRIATE content on the company be re-added to Wikipedia? Many thanks.

Crosebrook (talk) 12:42, 6 May 2013 (UTC)CRosebrook

No, it was never a ban: it was a statement that that particular article, at that time, was unsuitable and could not be rescued. Assuming that your company satisfies the criteria for notability, it may have an article; but you are strongly discouraged from writing one, because of your conflict of interest (which easily leads to such promotional language even when you think you are being neutral). Have a look at WP:ORG, and then if you think the company is notable, I suggest you make a request at WP:Requested articles. --ColinFine (talk) 14:59, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

View other user's watchlists

i am obviously able to share my watchlist with others (www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Watchlist) I have researched quite a bit, but didnt find how to exactly do that. Two questions: (1) How can I actually share my wathclist (2) How can I access or at leat see another user's watchlist? sry, if this is argued somewhere in lenght, but I didn't get it... Krit777 (talk) 12:48, 6 May 2013 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Krit777 (talk • contribs) 12:47, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

In Special:Preferences, under "Advanced options" there's a field called "Watchlist token". Filling in this field with a secret key will generate an RSS feed for your watchlist. Anyone who knows the key in this field will be able to read your watchlist, so share that key with whomever you want to see your watchlist. You can't see other people's watchlists unless they share their key with you. Hope this helps. Sophus Bie ^(talk) 12:57, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

thx, that helps. One more question: If I have this key, where do I enter it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Krit777 (talk • contribs) 13:19, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Please see the instructions at Wikipedia:Syndication#Watchlist feed with token. -- Toshio Yamaguchi 14:10, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Reply on TALk

Could you please tell me how I can respond to messages I receive on TALK. Could you please assist with uploading an image of an artist whose bio I created. Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by Papasart (talk • contribs) 14:02, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

The messages should be signed so there should be a link to the talk page of the editor who left it. If you leave your message on their talk page they will see it. (They may also watch your talk page for a response but that is less certain.) If it isn't signed you can check the history tab for your talk page to see who has edited it. Does this help? RJFJR (talk) 17:11, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Questions for reserch

I am asking for reserch purposes WHO CREATED OR PUBLISH WIKIPEDIA, WHAT IS THE WEBSITE URL, That is all thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.147.7.10 (talk) 15:31, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

You can read about it at History of Wikipedia and WP:ABOUT. It's currently published by Wikimedia Foundation. RudolfRed (talk) 15:47, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

If you are asking about citing Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia.--ukexpat (talk) 15:45, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

You may also find the following articles helpful:

• Wikipedia
• URL

I would also recommend using fewer capital letters. It can be interpreted as shouting.

Yaris678 (talk) 16:03, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

trying to put in references

Hi,

I am having problems correctly formatting my references. What am I doing wrong? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nina munteanu (talk • contribs) 15:31, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Have you taken a look at Wikipedia:Citing sources and Wikipedia:Citation templates? Taking a quick look at your most recent edits, it looks like your problem is thus: the <ref>this is a reference</ref> must go above the {{reflist}} on the page, or it won't work properly. Sophus Bie ^(talk) 15:45, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Why are Little Barrier Island and Richard Evans (British author) watched so often?

I just found Wikipedia:Database_reports/Most-watched_pages. Most entries at the top of the list are obvious. But how about Little Barrier Island (rank 16) and Richard Evans (British author) (rank 22)? Does anyone has a theory about this? --Zulu55en (talk) 14:40, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

I have no actual idea, but I have a guess. My guess is that there were edit wars on these articles in the past, and that Requests for Comments were publicized, and a large number of users watched these pages. That is a guess. Robert McClenon (talk) 16:23, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

It’s clear now: Talk:Little Barrier Island#Why is this the most watched page on Wikipedia? and moving of the Introduction talk page to Richard Evans (British author) and back afterwards, so all the watchers of the Introduction page – which at the moment is the second most watched page here with 16562 watchers and surely had thousands of watchers already in 2007, when the article has been created – were automatically transfered to the new article. --Geitost 17:10, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Strange errors in a cite

Please take a look at reference #68 on West Wetlands Park (Yuma, AZ) - it cites a United States Geological Survey (USGS) publication and from what I can make out it is supposed to have a very specific format but I have no idea where to find relevant guidance. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 18:23, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Heya, looks to me that the META tags from the source page got copy/pasted into the ref. I, as a layperson, interpret the meta tags to be the USGS's requirements for displaying information on the USGS website. It doesn't look relevant to us and could probably be deleted from the reference. [view-source:http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ofr80335 Page source.] What do you think? Cyphoidbomb (talk) 19:21, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for the sanity check - I suspected it was an error by the Reflinks tool. I've fixed it. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 09:10, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

Resubmitting a declined page

Dear Wiki reviewers, i have edited an entry for Philip Awadalla, a geneticist-I can`t upload it for review though. Can you please help. Thanks you User:Cag-anjos/sandbox S Cag-anjos (talk) 18:33, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

You accidentally deleted the AFC review template, I put it back for you. The template contains "When you are ready to resubmit, click here." that's what you need to do. However, you need to fix two of the references before you submit it again as they have become broken. BTW the page has been moved to Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Philip Awadalla, your sandbox now contains only a redirect. The article does not prove the subject's notability - all your sources are by the subject but notability requires that you use sources about him. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 18:48, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Hi Cag-anjos, I have made some changes to Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Philip Awadalla so it now cites some independent sources. Edit it further if you like and then re-submit the article. Yaris678 (talk) 23:36, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

Richard A. Hellman

Dear Sir/Madam:

I am writing to ask your advice on how to fix the following situation. It has come to our attention that the UNEP logo and name are being inappropriately used in a Wikipedia article on Richard A. Hellman (Richard A. Hellman). Richard A. Hellman has been using UNEP's logo without our authorization, in violation of UN rules, and has been associating himself with a defunct group known as “Friends of UNEP” which has not existed for many decades. Through using this false affiliation, he has associated himself with UNEP while making statements that do not align with UNEP’s and the UN’s views. Since Richard A. Hellman is not authorized to use UNEP’s name and logo, or to claim, imply or suggest in any manner to represent UNEP or its views, we ask your help in removing the logo, and all references to "Friends of UNEP" from the Wikipedia article. I look forward to your advice. Many thanks and kind regards, Regional Director United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 38.105.109.178 (talk) 19:49, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

I have removed the logo from that article per the non-free content criteria. --ukexpat (talk) 20:12, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Just to clarify, it's UNEP, USA that hasn't existed for several decades, and you'd like us to clarify that in the article? Was there any press coverage of the UNEP USA closure/ceasation? Was it succeeded by the UNEP Regional Office of North America? -- Zanimum (talk) 22:27, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

I'm new to all this. I wanted to report a delete article about a place that still exists.

The wiki article regarding Mohawk Correctional Facility in Rome, NY is deleted for some reason. The facility still exists, I worked there VERY recently. They are currently expanding. The confusion may be due to a 911 mandated address change. Their current address is: Mohawk Correctional Facility 6514 Rt. 26 P.O. Box 8450 Rome, New York 13440 (315) 339-5232 (Oneida County) (Inmate Mail: P.O. Box 8451) Source:

Thanks Dave — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.12.27.67 (talk) 20:27, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

• Mohawk Correctional Facility was deleted in 2005: the content was a single name. --  Gadget850 ^talk 20:55, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

A new article might be in order. Robert McClenon (talk) 21:20, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

The Wiki "China Pyramids" Information is False

The China Pyramids were built by "White People" as the Tariam Mummies prove they are not tombs of Asians. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.23.160.131 (talk) 22:10, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

I don't know the subject but I don't see a connection between the Tarim mummies and the Chinese pyramids. It appears the mummies were found around 2000 km from the pyramids, in an area controlled by other people. If you have a reliable source and aren't making up your own theory then you can post to Talk:Chinese pyramids. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:31, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Twitter: original post of tweet

In the article Friday (Rebecca Black song), there's mention made of a tweet deeming it the "worst video ever made?" There are references in the articles to news articles mentioning this tweet. Along with those YouTube Trends and Mashable articles, I cite the original tweet. While I didn't try to defend it in the failed FAC, someone raised it as an issue. Is there any way to link to the original tweet, without it being deemed an improper reference? -- Zanimum (talk) 22:23, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Why link to the original tweet? Just use a reliable secondary source. I suggest:

<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[National Post]]|last=Baldwin|first=Stephen|title=Five things you need to know about Rebecca Black’s Friday|url=http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/03/17/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-rebecca-blacks-friday/|date=March 17, 2011}}</ref>

Note, though, that the lead section of an article is for summarizing content in the body of the article, so there's a problem here with this rather significant detail being only in the lead. It can be only in the body in full, with a summary in the lead, but not the other way around. Note also that usually when you source something in the body of an article, you don't need the citation in the lead, but that is not the case with quotations, which must always be sourced with an inline citation, even if repeated. Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:19, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Edit

How do I turn off the [edit] tabs in the mobile edition? — Preceding unsigned comment added by MattPackwood (talk • contribs) 23:22, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Try asking at WP:VPT.— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 20:32, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

Did the edit section links move?

I'm used to seeing the edit links for sections on the right side of the page. They're appearing left now, near the section headers. Is this a browswer glitch or did they move? Is there a setting to put them back? RudolfRed (talk) 23:59, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

They indeed moved. I don't remember where, but a few days ago I saw a notification that the devs were going to do this. Deor (talk) 00:14, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

Here's where I saw it: Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#Section edit links are migrating westwards. A way to move them back to the right is given here. Deor (talk) 00:23, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for the explanation and the link. I can't find the preference setting mentioned there. RudolfRed (talk) 00:39, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

As I understand it, you have to go to (or create) Special:Mypage/common.css and then add the line

span.mw-editsection { float:right; }

to that page. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll probably do so eventually, when I get tired of continually "reaching" for section-edit links in the wrong place. Deor (talk) 00:58, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

Thanks! I've put them back where they belong - on the right margin. Why are the WMF code writers so busy lately, are they just fiddling around out of boredom or have they really never heard of the "don't fix what ain't broke" principle? Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 09:29, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

My Default language - English. What happened to it?

I've always BEEN a USA American. Wikipedia has always spoken to me in my language until two months ago when I VISITED Nicaragua. Now I'm back. When I am logged in - my profile KNOWS that I only speak English - yet it persists in presenting in Spanish until I 'cambiar' the language. [Good only for the life of this browser tab existence.] Please help to change the language for ME permanently to English. 'Mucho Gusto', Rix Dobbs — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rixdobbs (talk • contribs) 00:50, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

I'm very unclear what exactly you are experiencing but I thought maybe the default language on your web browser has been set to Spanish? If this is possibly the issue, this page has information on changing your default language setting on a number of different browsers. Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 01:45, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

Have you tried basic browser maintenance, such as clearing your browser history, cache, cookies, active logins, etc? Does the problem exist when you log in via a different browser, or a different computer? Cyphoidbomb (talk) 14:58, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

Is there a place where I can view all the background fill colors?

QM400032 (talk) 00:57, 7 May 2013 (UTC)QM400032 (talk) 19:57, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Help:Using colours?--Canoe1967 (talk) 01:31, 7 May 2013 (UTC)