Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2014 December 22

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December 22

will Wikipedia file a cyber crime case on me?

Few days back, i copied questions from other sites and i posted on wiki reference desk, then my account has been blocked for 2 days from editing.
so i am living with fear now, please tell me will Wikipedia file a cyber crime case on me? Ram nareshji (talk) 03:07, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

No, of course not. AndyTheGrump (talk) 03:27, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Do you think they should? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:46, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

No, Please User:Baseball Bugs Ram nareshji (talk) 04:00, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Well, then, don't worry about it. Just don't do it again. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:05, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Direct Page Links to .pdf Files Not Working

I had added a pair of links to the article for Townsbury, New Jersey, to allow the specific page in a .pdf file to be referenced (see here). As these are both old books, the page number listed on top of the page in the image does not match the page linked in the "#page=nnn" portion of the URL. When I click on the link, https://ia700407.us.archive.org/31/items/cu31924010411118/cu31924010411118.pdf#page=197 brings up page 176 (and 177) in the book History of Warren County, New Jersey, which describes how the area had once been known as Meng's Mill. In turn, https://ia700507.us.archive.org/6/items/industriesofnewj01edwa/industriesofnewj01edwa.pdf#page=109 brings up page 129 and 130 in the book Industries of New Jersey, with page 129 providing four lines about Townsbury while covering the range from Three Mile Run to Trenton. Another editor has reverted these links, saying that he gets completely different pages in the book. I have contacted individuals who tested these pages and get the same results on multiple platform / operating system / browser combinations. Does anyone else here get the wrong page? Does anyone know of any systematic errors using such page links to .pdfs or any reason that they should not be used in Wikipedia? Alansohn (talk) 05:44, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Using Firefox's built-in PDF reader, I end up close to the end of p. 197 for the first link and close to the beginning of p. 135 for the second. I don't know how common your practice is, or whether there is a known problem here. I'd be inclined to omit the page number from the link, specify it using |page=, and let the reader scroll or otherwise navigate to the desired page. ‑‑Mandruss ☎ 06:03, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

This was the same error I was getting at Townsbury, New Jersey, using Firefox. Should a warning be added to one of the MOS documents? This specific type of good-faith edit is probably used fairly often across Wikipedia, but it doesn't work for a large group of users (and those not using Firefox won't know that). Thanks. Magnolia677 (talk) 12:52, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Citing sources#Linking to PDF files states explicitly that "Links to long PDF documents can be made more convenient by taking readers to a specific page with the addition of #page=n to the document URL, where n is the page number.", acknowledging that this doesn't always work in all pdf viewers, as in your case where it seems to be remarkably close to the intended pages. As this functionality greatly benefits all those taken directly to the correct page without causing any harm to those who don't, it would seem that there is no reason not to use it. Alansohn (talk) 15:00, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

If Firefox is the only browser that goes to the wrong page, they will probably fix it eventually, eliminating any downside to your approach. So I agree with you, provided that |page= specifies the page number as printed in the book, which your cites appeared to do. If other browsers had a similar problem, that would be a different matter, as it would suggest a technical limitation of PDF. ‑‑Mandruss ☎ 01:40, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

Submitting a biography

I need help to submit to wikipedia the biography of a world renowned physician who is deceased. I don't know where to submit. I have an account but i am not confirmed. Please help. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Erica Blatt Harkins (talk • contribs) 06:07, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Hello, Erica Blatt Harkins. I suggest starting by reading your first article, and using the WP:article wizard to create the article in draft: you can submit it for review when you think it is ready. Please be aware that it is not easy to write a satisfactory article. I would advise that you get familiar with editing by working on other articles first. --ColinFine (talk) 10:37, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Wikipedia Kenya?

What is this? http://www.wikipedia.or.ke/index.php/Main_Page

It looks like some sort of unofficial copy of Wikipedia. It's a wiki and looks like it's copying material from Wikipedia, which is all OK. But why does it call itself "Wikipedia"? Does it have the right to use the name "Wikipedia" or not? JIP | Talk 07:00, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Don't know. But the WHOIS info doesn't mention Wikimedia. Dismas|^(talk) 07:51, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

No. The "View history" links only show one edit to each article, so it is not following the terms of the SS-BY-SA license; and it should not be using the Wikipedia name or globe. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:39, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Also note that it's not possible to edit pages without logging in, and there is no link to register for an account. I tried my own log-in credentials that I use here on the real Wikipedia, and the site told me there is no such user as JIP. Apparently no pages have been edited there in the last two years. This site looks pretty much useless. I wonder why it was created in the first place? JIP | Talk 09:51, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Well, it's displaying some advertising, and that's always worthwhile </humor>. One reason for creating lookalike sites is to capture the login details of people who mistake it for the real thing, but this one doesn't look sophisticated enough for that. You might like to change your password anyway. -- John of Reading (talk) 10:06, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

It could be listed as a non-compliant mirror at Wikipedia:Mirrors and forks. Unfortunately there are a lot of them. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:59, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Listed at Wikipedia:Mirrors and forks/Vwxyz#Wikipedia_Kenya. JIP | Talk 13:39, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

wrong information on Homa Bay County

contact me so that i help you update homa Bay county details — Preceding unsigned comment added by 197.155.68.90 (talk) 15:46, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

The place for any comments (with references to published reliable sources) is the article's talk page. --David Biddulph (talk) 15:58, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

New editor help

Hello! I've just created an account and I want to know how I can help out here! FourOfCups (talk) 17:00, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Hi FOC. I have placed some links on your talk page. Read through and look at some of the articles on Wikipedia that you have an interest in. See if you can improve them - unless they are my articles, which are perfect already :¬)--Aspro (talk) 17:18, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Also, if you include a short autobiography on your User Page, mentioning (roughly) what part of the world you're from. What you're good at (employment, hobbies, etc). Then another editor visiting your page may suggest articles that you might find interesting to contribute to. However, don't hesitate in thinking you have to learn all our polices (and there are a lot of them - oh boy, are there a lot of them) just jump in and get editing.--Aspro (talk) 17:36, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

One way of helping out is drilling into some of the articles here Category:Articles needing cleanup and helping provide the clean up, or removing the {{cleanup}} tag if someone else has done the clean up and the tag is no longer appropriate. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 18:52, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Another tip: Wikipedia:Teahouse is... "A friendly place to help new editors become accustomed to Wikipedia culture, ask questions, and develop community relationships".  ~E, aka:71.20.250.51 (talk) 02:36, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

Wikipedia as IE search provider in Windows 8

Is it still possible to add Wikipedia as a search provider in Windows 8? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.94.21.19 (talk) 18:02, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Microsoft only wants you to use Microsoft Bling. So try this: Goto Wikipedia. Place mouse at bottom right-hand corner of the page, swipe mouse up. Click Settings > Options >Home page > Customize > Add.--Aspro (talk) 20:04, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Also, you may want to click on wikipedia preferences at the top of page and select 'Gadgets', check box marked “Focus the cursor in the search bar on loading the Main Page” (third box down). Better still install Linux Mint and use Firefox.--Aspro (talk) 20:11, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Requests for donations

I would like to advise that I donated earlier in the year. Is there a way of stopping the popups? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Chris beresford (talk • contribs) 18:21, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

At the top you should see Preferences. Click on it the you should see a Gadgets tab. Click on it. You shold then have a Browsing section. Near the bottom of the section find Suppress display of the fundraiser banner. Check the box in front of it and click Save all the way at the bottom of the page. -- GB fan 18:28, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Note that that will only work while you are logged into your account. I believe the fund-drive ends at the end of the month and so it should go away in January even if you are not logged in. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 18:54, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Graphic content that needs to be removed from Wikipedia NOW

I was on the Man Haron Monis page and below in the 'External Links' section is a link to his personal website (through the Wayback machine) that contains extremely graphic photos of dead children. I think this needs to be reviewed and removed before children or other sensitive peoples come across it. --Blooremre (talk) 19:48, 22 December 2014 (UTC) — Blooremre (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.

"Think of the CHILDREN!!!!" is not a valid rationale. You would need to provide something from WP:ELNO perhaps. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 19:50, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Maybe it's there to provide insight into this nut-case's thinking. I got an Active-X warning of some kind when I tried to go to that page (being a curious sort), so I don't recommend linking to it in any case. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:55, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

That is a valid rationale. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 19:57, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

The ugliness and horror of the page is not a reason to delete the link, but should it be deleted because it appears to be dangerous? Robert McClenon (talk) 05:17, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

yes, WP:NOTCENSORED "some articles may include images, text or links that are relevant to the topic but that some people find objectionable. Discussion of potentially objectionable content should not focus on its offensiveness but on whether it is an appropriate image, text or link. " and WP:ELNO "#3 Sites containing malware, malicious scripts, trojan exploits, or content that is illegal to access in the United States. Suspected malware sites can be reported by following the instructions at Wikipedia:Spam blacklist." -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 17:40, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

The image first appeared in Turkish newspaper Milli Gazete, I can't see any attribution by Man Haron Monis, so perhaps a copyright claim under WP:ELNEVER. - God knows how many terrorist watchlists I'm on after trackling that down. Do they serve Christmas Pudding in Guantanamo? - X201 (talk) 06:12, 23 December 2014 (UTC)