Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 April 12

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April 12

Angry Video Game Nerd

Why is Wikipedia not allowing an entry for The Angry Video Game Nerd? -Paul6743 00:19, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Please see WP:N and WP:RS. The subject isn't notable and not covered by any reliable sources. -Wooty Woot? contribs 00:24, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Objection. There exist multiple sources including YouTube, ScrewAttack.com, GameTrailers.com, AngryNESNerd.com and MySpace.com.

It's only a matter of compliling the facts and all that other good stuff...

So Paul6743, I can sympathize with you... I truly think he deserves an article here on Wikipedia.

I look at it this way... The more stuff it has, the more popular it becomes... Wouldn't you agree!?!? --WIKISCRIPPS 07 WED APR 11 2007 9:03 PM EDT (THU APR 12 2007 1:03 AM UTC)

None of those sources are reliable. — Malcolm^{Use the schwartz!} 01:07, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Right. I can make a video about my cat, that doesn't make him notable or reliably sourced. -Wooty Woot? contribs 02:47, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Doesn't matter, it is still media that people can get around, not to mention he's only going big... Have you forgotten that GameTrailers is owned by Viacom through MTV Networks??? Besides, let's talk about his interview at GT, shall we??? Also, GT supplies programs for Spike TV, such as Game Head... What do you say about that??? --WIKISCRIPPS 07 WED APR 11 2007 11:37 PM EDT (THU APR 12 2007 3:37 AM UTC)

It doesn't matter who they're "owned by". Please see WP:RS. -Wooty Woot? contribs 05:44, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

In addition to Wooty's links, I suggest you study the Attribution/FAQ. Adrian M. H. 12:54, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

What I demand to know is why administrators go out of their way to back one-hit wonders like the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny, and at the other end of the spectrum go out of their way to deny The Angry Video Game Nerd an article. The "no new developments since July 2006" bit is very old. Citing sockpuppetry and 'not hosted on a top 1,000,000 alexa site' according to July 2006 nonsense isn't going to fly much longer.216.37.86.10 14:39, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

Centralized Discussions

Are there any pages/lists of centralized discussions of commonly discussed issues, such as blanking user talk pages, removing warnings, etc.? Not a dog 00:54, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Yes, see Wikipedia:Centralized_discussion/Conclusions. For the examples you noted, see:

Mediation case regarding removal of warning templates (Page was deleted, but the placeholder currently there has some links detailing the incident)

A rejected proposal regarding warning removal

And the {{uw-tpv}} series of templates at WP:UTM.

Hope that helped. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 01:37, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Perfect, thanks. I think this page should be linked to more prominently somewhere. Not a dog 01:48, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

UN image policies?

I received an email from the UN Photo Librarians (the copyright holders of all UN images) stating the following:

UN Photo Usage Guidelines

UN photos may be used to further the aims and work of the United Nations. They cannot be used for advertising, marketing or in ways which are inconsistent with the Organization’s mission.

UN photos cannot be altered, sold, redistributed or used to create derivative works.

COPYRIGHT United Nations photographs are the property of the United Nations, which holds all rights in connection with their usage.

PERMISSION Prior written permission is required to reproduce UN photos in print or electronic format, including CDs, DVDs, web sites, videos, exhibits, etc. Such permissions are granted on a one-time non-exclusive basis and may be renewed.

Written permission is, however, not required for reproduction of photo material as allowed by statutory exemptions (e.g. UN-affiliated non-governmental organizations and United Nations Associations, UN system organizations, including Specialized Agencies) or Fair Use. It applies solely to scholarly, academic, non-profit, or journalistic use of properly credited UN photos.

The standard UN photo licensing permission form is available for download. (Pre-generated permission forms for online photo requests can be found in Your Account.) Third party permission forms are not accepted.

How would one apply this to WP policy?--Ed ^{¿Cómo estás?} 01:35, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

It says if they're used for a scholarly/non-profit purpose, you can use it with written permission. Fair Use is OK but permission is better. -Wooty Woot? contribs 02:46, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Do you know what template that would be?--Ed ^{¿Cómo estás?} 02:57, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Oh, I get what you're asking now. What you need to do is ask them for permission to license it under GFDL, because we can't use images only granted to WP and I don't think we can do the whole "image can be used for noncommercial purposes only" template (though that's an option in the list). If they don't want to do that, you need to just tag it as fair use. -Wooty Woot? contribs 03:02, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

You should probably use an applicable Fair Use template, and mention in the source section that the image came from the United Nations and very clearly specify the rationale under which the image is being used (identification of such-and-such or whatever). All Fair Use policies apply - it can only be used in that article for that single purpose, etc. and so forth. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 03:06, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Super Mario Bros. 3 suits

I came across a small stub today entitled Hammer Brothers' Suit, and after doing a little bit of work on it, I decided that it really isn't enough on its own. So I got an idea. Would it be a good idea to merge this Hammer Brothers' Suit article, as well as the slightly better Tanooki suit article into a new article called "Super Mario Bros. 3 suits" (or "Suits of Super Mario Bros. 3")? I think it would be better than having separate articles for the Frog Suit (which I don't think has an article), Tanooki Suit, Raccoon Suit, and the Hammer Bros. Suit. The only thing is that it still might not be good enough for a separate article. That is why I am asking here if I should go ahead and start this off, or if it is a waste of my time and effort. --LuigiManiac 01:44, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Okay, I'm working on a prototype for the article in Notepad, but I realized that the raccoon powerup is called the Raccoon Leaf. Here is what I propose instead. I could still do a "Power-ups exclusive to Super Mario Bros. 3" article (or something like that) if it is deemed worthy for an article. --LuigiManiac 03:11, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Maybe not the best person to reply (about as unfamiliar with the subject as I could be!), but it sounds like you are on the right track. Merging and moving pages may offer some guide as well. Adrian M. H. 12:59, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

I'm worried that it may be too game guide-y (I had no idea how to put that, so I made up a word) for inclusion into Wikipedia. I now have the prototype uploaded on my new sandbox, and I am now working on it directly in Wikipedia, instead of in Notepad. I have expanded the idea further to include all Super Mario Bros. 3 exclusive items that could be used from the inventory. It is almost to the point where I would feel comfortable putting it in the article mainspace with the green light. --LuigiManiac 15:07, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

I decided to finally get it out into the article mainspace. I feel others will be able to help now more than I can. It is now located here. I will also provide a link to it from Super Mario Bros. 3. --LuigiManiac 02:36, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

Currency

Where is each currency is made (dollar)? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.184.18.227 (talk • contribs)

You should ask factual questions at the Reference Desk - they're the ones who know everything, we're just geeks who know how to use Wikipedia pretty well. However, you might try looking at the article Dollar. :-) Hersfold ^(talk/work) 03:00, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

See also Mint (coin). Dismas|^(talk) 03:04, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

In the United States, the United States Mint makes coins, and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing prints paper currency. However, you only specified the dollar and not the country. (Several countries call their currency the "dollar;" see the {{dollar}} template for a great-looking list.) You can look up any country name on Wikipedia to find out about its currency. For example, the Australia article has an {{Infobox Country or territory}} template which lists Australian dollar as its currency. If you want to find out about currency, you came to the right place, because Wikipedia has excellent coverage on the subject. --Teratornis 03:16, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Guidelines to "References in Popular Culture" Sections

Do guidelines exist anywhere? I've got some proposals to offer but I'm not sure where to initiate discussion. Rocksong 03:43, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

I've asked in Wikipedia:Village pump (policy) now instead. Rocksong 07:41, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Need to access a reference list.

I found a citation for a reference that corroborates information stated in an article, but when I edit that section of the page where the references are located, I find {{Reflist|2}}. How do I get to the page with the references on it?Lottamiata 04:12, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

See Help:Footnotes for a full explanation. Basically, when you want to add a reference to an article, you can use the tag <ref>some references...</ref>. Then, your reference text will appear at the bottom of the article where you find the rest of the references (i.e. the section that says {{Reflist|2}}). Wikipedia:Footnotes provides the guidelines as far as how and when to use footnotes, and Wikipedia:Citation templates gives you a list of all the different templates used for citations. --Elkman ^(Elkspeak) 04:21, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

bibliography

how do I make a bibliography on wikipedia? Which page should I go to?

Are you trying to cite an article for the bibliography of a paper you are writing? If so, see Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia. Dismas|^(talk) 03:59, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Boldly add extended Colbert summaries?

I'm not sure if this is the right forum, but I'd like someone's take on this before I act too boldly. Lately, I've been contributing to List of The Colbert Report episodes (2007). Last night after jotting down a few notable quotes from the show, I wrote-up a long summary for that show. Today another contributor, User:Lugnut215 edited it down, which I appreciate, since it really was way too long for that page. However, I'm no wondering if it would be unreasonable to create one page for an extended summary of each episode. This system would be conducive to organizing segments with headings, including a few choice quotes and germane references. Is Wikipedia an OK place to post extended summaries, or is it too obscure and irrelevant? I'd a appreciate feedback from anyone, but esp. from admins who may be in a position to delete or protect pages. Thanks. Rosenbluh 04:18, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

I think the first question to consider is: what is the source here? Is watching a TV show and reporting what you see considered original research or a valid use of a primary source? (I don't have an answer, but I'd like to see opinions). Notinasnaid 07:48, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

(Just my interpretation) I would call it OR, I think. If you watched a documentary and wrote about its subject, that would (I assume) by legitimate (someone else has done the actual research), but writing about the program itself without using third party sources would be more likely to be considered OR. But like I say, I'm not 100% sure. Might be a grey area or open to question, given that it is essentially a published work. Adrian M. H. 14:50, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Notinasnaid & Adrian_M._H.: I appreciate your comments. Hypothetically, if the Daily Show posted a transcript of each show online, it would seem entirely fair to consider an abbreviated or an extended summary to not be original research. But lacking an external source reporting on the show, it does seem inappropriate to write something up on Wikipedia which can't be verified, unless you have a recording of the show or watch it the same week on comedycentral.com. I'm thinking that I ought to rent a domain and create a non-satirical version of Wikiality.com. Rosenbluh 06:50, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

Using fair use images in biography articles

A recent exchange with another wikipeadian has come to a head, and he has sent me here for resolution. He removed two images from an article stating they were in violation of "policy." I inquired about this, and he told me this: "Fair use images...are not allowed in biographies of living persons per order of Jimbo Wales himself. It is a legal issue." I asked where to find this "order" and he sent me to Wikipedia:Fair use, which of course mentions nothing of the sort.

When questioned further he told me that the location of the "order from Jimbo Wales" was unimportant, as it was a policy, regardless of how it came to be one.

After reviewing Wikipedia:Fair use again, I came to the conclusion he had misinterpreted portions of the policy and suggested such. His reply was

"There is a general MoS, be it official or not, that we do not use fair use images in biographies for any reason. I believe that it is official due to how widespread it is, and I will continue to enforce this until it is shown to be invalid because I have read Jimbo's statement, though I cannot find it."

Someone please resolve this issue. I find it extremely hard to believe that any fair use image is simply not allowed in the text of a biographical article of a living person. That makes absolutely no sense from an academic, encyclopædic or legal (at least in this country) standpoint. --JohnDoe0007 04:27, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

You are correct. There is no guideline, policy, or essay that says biographies of living people can't have fair use images. And "general MoS" things that nobody else knows about aren't enough. However, keep in mind that you still have to use free images where they are available. -Amarkov moo! 04:30, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Exactly my point. My guess was he was confusing the idea that non-free images are not to be used as the subject-identifier image at the top of the article (as they would then not be qualified as fair use), but he replied with what I last quoted. So where do I go from here? He told me to come here to basically be told I was wrong, and that he would continue "enforcing it" (i.e. removing fair use images from biographies of living people) until he is proven wrong...which is essentially saying "I will continue to enforce a law that I cannot produce documentation for, until you prove that it doesn't exist."

Is there any admin that can confirm this? --JohnDoe0007 05:10, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

I'm not an admin, but I Googled and found a user (User:Yamla) who claimed this policy, but gave no citation I could trace. However, his wording of the policy led to a better Google search which found something that looks like a possible source for the policy being alluded to above:

• Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2007-01-02/Promotional photos#Effort to modify fair use policy aborted

And let me tell you, I had to read that several times to see how it could be construed into a general ban on fair-use images of living persons, since the order of presentation is not the clearest. The key seems to be that if a person is living, it would be possible to take an uncopyrighted photo of that person, thus undercutting the fair use rationale that no alternative free image is "available or could be created." But don't take my word for it, read that Signpost page yourself a few times and tell me what you think. It would be nice if Wikipedia:Fair use criteria spelled this out more explicitly, rather than relying on such a subtle inference from the general criteria. --Teratornis 05:40, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Nice work Teratornis...Yes, the user I spoke of also mentioned User:Yamla as a reference...but I figured the community of the help desk is more reliable than simply one other user (despite said user being an admin). As I told the user that originally brought it up, I haven't exactly passed a bar exam, but I have a working knowledge of business law (through experience as well as instruction), and although I read the entire signpost, I could tell after the second paragraph it had little influence on the subject at hand. In no way does it even hint at the idea that "no fair use image shall be placed on a biography of a living person." The signpost refers to the issue of the the use of publicity photos of living people (which is a decent discussion to be had, for the reasons mentioned in the signpost itself)...but it has nothing to do with the suggestion the original user I mentioned or (allegedly) Yamla have given.

As far as the ambiguity of Wikipedia:Fair use criteria, that stems from the ambiguity of the laws themselves. You'll find that most laws (in the U.S. at least) are written in such a way that they may be interpreted and (for lack of a decent euphemism) manipulated to fit many different cases and situations. That and the endless appellate system are what most attorneys would tell you is what make the country great...(and what keeps them employed) but that's another story.

I am feeling more and more that the whole idea of this no-fair-use-image "policy" is a big misunderstanding.

Still looking for further clarification...Response, admins?? --JohnDoe0007 06:14, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

I believe that current policies should, if applied properly, result in a large number (perhaps most) fair use pictures being removed from biographies, most album and book covers. (I am not an admin). Don't just take my word for it, read Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Kat Walsh's statement. Notinasnaid 07:46, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Any admin care to comment???? --JohnDoe0007 19:40, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Where can I find out how to use the Reflist template?

I am trying to fix a citation in a reference list in an article that simply states {{Reflist|2}} in the markup code for the reference section. I assume this is a template of some kind, but I am having trouble locating it in the template help pages. Lottamiata 04:38, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

The template page: {{Reflist}} shows some usage notes. --Teratornis 04:43, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Possible edit dispute - how do I approach it?

Hi there! I have a question about the good faith policy and ownership of articles. Starting in early January, I started making a lot of edits and changes to the Pomona College article. I overhauled the first half of the article into new intro, history, campus and academics sections. I followed many of the guidelines and ideas from the WikiProject Universities, following Duke University and Cornell University's articles especially because they are featured. Recently a user has been making edits to the article that don't seem constructive (they aren't properly sourced) and gives no particular reason for them. It appears this user has only edited articles for Pomona and Claremont McKenna College. These colleges have a history of not always getting along (the students at least) and at times may do things to try to damage the other's reputation. I feel that the edits that this user has been making to Pomona's article are in this vein. I know this seems long-winded, but I just want to make sure I am following the right actions. I haven't yet reverted the edits made to the article today (which are at points unsourced and others stray from the Duke/Cornell template for college articles) for fear of starting an edit war. Also, I want to make sure that I am not disregarding the Good Faith Policy or the Ownership of Articles policy. Certainly I am attached to this article, but only insofar as I want it to become more encylcopedic and accurate. I haven't yet contacted the user, and have the unchanged (without this user's edits) version of the page in my sandbox, but wanted to wait until I could possibly get another opinion on the matter so that I won't be acting rashly to this or starting an edit war. Thank you very much for your help. --Vter4life 04:47, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

This is a tricky situation. I had a similar situation happen on an article I was trying to improve to featured. Another editor added some info that was not written too well and unsourced. However, it that case the info was not bad. I cleaned it up and sourced it myself. If that is the case (decent info, just unsourced) leave a friendly reminder on the user's talk page and see if he sources it himself. If not, try to source it. If you can't source it, remove it as it is in violation of WP:ATT. If there are sources for everything, there isn't much you can do besides keep it. Unless it is a copyvio or totally unhelpful and irrelevant info (which you should still discuss with the user and on the article talk page). If it is too detailed for trivial info, condense it and move it to the end of the article content or disperse it into the rest of the article. You are right though, you don't OWN the article and have little control over new additions. You can "police" any new additions to make sure they meet policy. (Don't just remove any unsourced statement immediately as a violation of WP:ATT though). Mr.Z-mantalk¢ 04:58, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for your insight! The user has continued to edit the article, now removing material that I had sourced before. I suppose my question is how do I go about putting material back in that he has removed or reorganized (away from standards that are established in other articles)? Should I leave him a message and wait for a response before I try to do anything, or is it ok for me for me to put things back that I have established (i.e. sourced) then leave him a message? I just don't want to exacerbate anything, but still want to make the article better. --Vter4life 02:44, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

Baton Rouge Skyline pic "Outdated"

Why were the more recent Baton Rouge skyline pics changed for a outdated 1999 pic?? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.254.41.138 (talk) 07:27, 12 April 2007 (UTC).

• The picture may be older but it's of a higher quality and shows more of the area. Did anything geographically change to make what you see in the image outdated? If not, there's no reason to replace the older image. - Mgm|^(talk) 07:50, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

• Well, Wikipedia isn't a news service, and articles about places are about the entire history of a place. Pictures from any era may have relevance as illustrations. Notinasnaid 08:37, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
• True, which is why I would find an old image perfectly acceptable in an article history section, but this question discussed the image in the infobox. - Mgm|^(talk) 09:23, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
  • Why should an infobox use a contemporary picture? Is that one of the rules of that template? Notinasnaid 09:31, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
  • No, that's just me assuming that would be useful. I still think this particular replacing was not useful because the older image had a better quality (perspective and resolution) and showed more of the area. I am totally against unexplained replacing of images with a lower quality one. - Mgm|^(talk) 10:15, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

when replying - pink box

Hi all,

when replying to questions on the ref desk, sometimes my text appears in a loooonnnggg pink box, i've noticed it with someother people's answers as well. i have tried different ways of typing an answer such as 'return' as i come to the edge of the reply box, but this sometimes works sometimes does'nt. I could continue to 'fanny around' to find the solution, but hey thats what the help desk is for (hopefully)

Perry-mankster 10:33, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

or like now !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Normally the text goes into a blue or other coloures box if you indent it from the line without using  : Your sentence . I have corrected it here, is that what you mean, if not follow up either here or on my User talk Page, thanks. Tellyaddict 10:36, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

(edit conflict) You mean like this?

Text appears in a 'pre' box (which shows grey for me, and presumably pink for you) if the line starts with a space. This is so you can do ASCII art, and write program code with indentation, for instance. The box preserves spaces between characters (normally, two consecutive spaces are condensed into one). So if you want to avoid the box, don't type any spaces at the start of a line; start right at the margin. (You can use colons at the start of a line for indentation.) Hope that helps! --ais523 10:37, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

See: Help:Wikitext examples#Just show what I typed. --Teratornis 16:59, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

where exactly

do you know where exactly can i find where to find the biography about Louis Latimer(Louis Howard Latimer)? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.94.88.237 (talk) 11:23, 12 April 2007 (UTC).

• Louis Latimer and Louis Howard Latimer are unfortunately not very helpful yet, but google is your friend in this case. - Mgm|^(talk) 11:36, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
• Ah, I see. I'm assuming you want to know about the inventor. You probably mistyped his name: see Lewis Latimer. - Mgm|^(talk) 11:47, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Removal

How do you get unwanted pages about you removed from wikipedia.

• First you should see if whatever is wrong with it (assuming that's the reason you want it removed) can be fixed. The next step is reading WP:BLP#Dealing_with_articles_about_yourself. - Mgm|^(talk) 11:33, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
• (Edit conflict) If it's a blatant attack page or doesn't assert your notability, you can request speedy deletion by adding {{db-bio}} to the top of the article (see WP:CSD, particularly G10 and A7). If it's a more complex problem, you can contact Wikipedia. -SpuriousQ (talk) 11:34, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Citations to sources with changing URLs to articles

I thought that I may have read that some news sources were not recommended because the URL tends to change. I can't find the guide that may have said that. Yahoo news is what I have in mind as not recommended as a citable source because of this. Can you point me to a guide on this issue. thank you. -- Yellowdesk 13:51, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

In a preliminary search, I have only found What to do when a ref link goes dead. If the longevity is in serious doubt, maybe you could use one of the free archival services that are around on the web. Adrian M. H. 14:05, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

• I recently used a Yahoo News article to cite an addition to an article. The URL was very specific about what the article was about, so I doubt it would change. The key here is to use the URL for the article rather than the Yahoo News front page. - Mgm|^(talk) 07:39, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

Continuing numbered lists after some explanatory text

Using "#" is there a way to continue an already started numbered list if there is a break between the entreies?

I.e.:

There are four kinds of frooble

1. Bar

2. Zarble

Bar and zarble are yada yada ... which is the opposite behavior of the last three:

3. Boogle

4. Zarkonkle

5. Jubsy

If I use

1. Bar
2. Zarble
   Some explanatory text, followed by
3. Boogle
4. Zarkonkle
5. Jubsy

then the last three are again numbered from 1. 66.252.24.130 14:03, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

You could number them manually, with colons to position them:

6. Boogle

7. Zarkonkle

and so on. Adrian M. H. 14:08, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Amend that. I just tried adding a break tag to your edit, and it worked as you want it to. Even easier, if you can put up with the indent. Adrian M. H. 14:10, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

A wiki way (without a br tag) is using a colon after a # to append comments below a number as in:

1. Line 1
2. Line 2

   Some indented text

3. Line 3

You can see that the third line continues at number 3. --Kainaw ^(talk) 14:19, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

If you want to insert something complicated between list items which is not another kind of wiki list, you need to use an <ol> tag, or maybe two of them (Help:HTML in wikitext). This gives you maximum control over item numbering and you can also control the numbering style (using letters instead of numbers, for example). Here is an example of a numbered list with a "just show what I typed" block inserted between list items, to demonstrate the flexibility of this method:

1. A list item.
2. Another list item.
This might be an example of a program command.
4. Try getting this item to number correctly with a wiki list.

--Teratornis 16:23, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Creating a redirect

How can I create a redirect for a common misspelled word For instance Streching redirected to Stretching? -Czmtzc 15:17, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

See WP:REDIRECT, there is a section about redirects from misspellings. -SpuriousQ (talk) 15:17, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, Streching and Strech now redirect to Stretching. Czmtzc 15:26, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Underscoring Spaces

I was working on an idea for a template and I ran into a problem. I need to replace the spaces of {{{$1}}} with underscores so I can use http://xx.wikipedia.org/wiki/{{{$1}}} (note, the "xx" means that I'll be replacing "en" with different letters). Is there a temlpate or function that does this? --Kainaw ^(talk) 16:19, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

See: Namespaces and URLs for the {{urlencode}} and {{anchorencode}} magic words. --Teratornis 16:29, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. --Kainaw ^(talk) 16:33, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Getting My Book Listed on Wikipedia

Dear Sirs,

I have recently self-pubished my book, Another Day, Another Dog. Details are at www.trevor-rowe.com and I am giving 75% of net profit to Cancer Research so I wondered whether you would be able to feature the book in Wikipedia. I have already sent Cancer Research UK £300 in memory of my sister who died of cancer in 2005 but hope to donate substantially more if the book gets wider publicity.

Many Thanks,

TR 16:40, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not a publicity site. When your book is notable for some award, sales record, or inclusion in a respected list of outstanding books, someone will certainly add it. --Kainaw ^(talk) 16:42, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Good luck with your commendable intentions; I hope your book does very well. But the above reply is correct; notability is the primary governing policy for inclusion or rejection and, for obvious reasons, it has to be applied strictly and fairly (notwithstanding some content that slips through). Conflict of interest also applies. Adrian M. H. 16:59, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

See WP:BK#Self-publication. If your book has been written about in reliable publications, that could be evidence of its notability. The idea behind Wikipedia is that we write about what is already famous; we do not create fame. Thus you would need to promote your book by other means, and if you succeed, the book will be notable enough that someone will start an article for it on Wikipedia. --Teratornis 17:01, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Strange new behavior for HTML ordered lists

Recently I noticed HTML ordered lists behaving strangely on Wikipedia. When I insert a "just show what I typed" block of text between list items, the block appears before the item it is after. For example, here is some example list code:

<ol>
<li>A list item.</li>
<li>Here is a program command:</li>
 This might be an example of a program command.
<li>Try getting this item to number correctly with a wiki list.</li>
</ol>

and it formats like this:

1. A list item.
2. Here is a program command:
This might be an example of a program command.
3. Try getting this item to number correctly with a wiki list.

The only way I have found to get the code block to stay where I put it is to insert a blank list item ahead of it:

<ol>
<li>A list item.</li>
<li>Here is a program command:</li>
<li></li><!-- dummy item thrown in to get the following line to appear where it should. -->
 This might be an example of a program command.
<li>Try getting this item to number correctly with a wiki list.</li>
</ol>

which formats as:

1. A list item.
2. Here is a program command:
This might be an example of a program command.
4. Try getting this item to number correctly with a wiki list.

I do not observe this problem on another MediaWiki wiki I use (which runs version 1.9.2). Is this a bug in MediaWiki? --Teratornis 16:45, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

I believe a new version of HTML tidy was recently installed, causing numerous problems. As I don't know HTML very well, I can't help much more than that. Mr.Z-mantalk¢ 16:46, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. That led me to the manual page: mw:Manual:$wgUseTidy and to Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#Tidy upgraded (permanent link). The latter asks if anyone knows of any bugs, so I'll ask if what I'm seeing is. --Teratornis 20:30, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Help trying to add information on website

I am having issues trying to add information to wikipedia. For some reason every time I add info, it rejects it. I am not sure if i am doing it wrong or if it will not allow the content I am trying to add? It is just a write up on a clothing company but I don't know where to start or where it will allow me to add content about them.

AngeloM24.233.132.231 16:51, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Help trying to add information on website 24.233.132.231 16:53, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

I am having issues trying to add information to wikipedia. For some reason every time I add info, it rejects it. I am not sure if i am doing it wrong or if it will not allow the content I am trying to add? It is just a write up on a clothing company but I don't know where to start or where it will allow me to add content about them.

AngeloM24.233.132.231 16:53, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

If you're trying to add a new article, you have to have an account. Accounts are free and you don't need to release any private info to get one. If you are trying to add info to an article that is already present, could you specify which article? Dismas|^(talk) 16:54, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

See WP:ACCOUNT. --Teratornis 17:09, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Please make sure the clothing company is a particularly notable one. See WP:CORP for guidelines. If the company isn't notable, the article will be deleted. Your article needs to explain why they are notable too. You have also been adding links to articles: these will be removed as adverts, sorry. Notinasnaid 17:34, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

vfd

what kind of fruits and vegetables are grown in san joaquin?

This is for questions about editing Wikipedia (as it says clearly at the top of the page). You can ask at the Ref Desk, under Miscellaneous. Adrian M. H. 17:01, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

There are several San Joaquins. One that is notable for agriculture is San Joaquin Valley. --Teratornis 17:14, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

I messed up two AfDs. Help!

Ashes in the Fall and Socialese. I really don't know what I'm doing here, and I don't have the time right now to figure it out. Somebody please step in and fix whatever steps I missed. Sorry! Eleland 17:23, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

In once case you soemhow never creadted the AfD sub-page at all. In the other you created it, but dailed to include the header that makes it a separae section in the AfD log. I've fixed booth, but you need to visit the afd page for Socialese and provide a nomination reason, as I had no way to guess what your reason would have been. DES ^(talk) 17:48, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Picture upload

I'm trying to upload a picture of Fort Monroe but I am an idiot and I'm not at all understanding the instructions on how to make it happen. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Waggss (talk • contribs) 18:35, 12 April 2007 (UTC).

Go to Upload File over on the side, click the browse icon, select the image you wish to upload, add its source, and add its copyright, such as tv-screenshot, GFDL, film-screenshot, etc... Click upload, and you're done--$UIT 18:43, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

It turns out it's also a National Historic Landmark, so I put the picture inside an infobox. (See Wikipedia:WikiProject National Register of Historic Places if you're interested in such things.) --Elkman ^(Elkspeak) 21:03, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia article of the day

Hello friends! I am interested in creating a Wikipedia article of the day video blog on youtube for the purpose of encouraging education, learning, and use and editing of wikipedia. It would include particularly interesting articles, featured articles, interesting pictures on wikipedia, and more! Where should I go to on this? How will I let people on wikipedia know about it so they can help or even maybe be linked out from wikipedia? Thanks guys. [Mαc Δαvιs] (How's my driving?)  ❖ 19:00, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

If your videos would have instructional value (and it sounds like they would), we have a page that lists resources of this type: Wikipedia:Instructional material. Before you could link to your videos from the main article space, you might have to establish notability for them by getting them featured in some reputable publications. --Teratornis 04:30, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

en.wikipedia.org dns problem

Dear wikipedia!

Please review situation with your zone file wikipedia.org especially in part of en.wikipedia.org.

Your current practice:
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
en.wikipedia.org.       3600    IN      CNAME   rr.wikimedia.org.
rr.wikimedia.org.       600     IN      CNAME   rr.knams.wikimedia.org.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Multilevel redirect 'A' request is poor and do not improve reliability, more useful using easy 'A' record for manage moving webservers between IP, if need.

Some time I do not resolve en.wikipedia.org, see for instance:

host -v en.wikipedia.org 145.97.39.158
Trying "en.wikipedia.org"
Using domain server:
Name: 145.97.39.158
Address: 145.97.39.158#53
Aliases:

Host en.wikipedia.org not found: 2(SERVFAIL)
Received 34 bytes from 145.97.39.158#53 in 44 ms

Best regards —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.237.168.50 (talk) 19:28, 12 April 2007 (UTC).

Poetry

I remember one time I stumbled upon this poetry sandbox on wikipedia where users could just post their poems. Now I can't seem to find it. I am not referring to the "world's longest poem". Help! NIRVANA2764 19:51, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

It may have just been the main Sandbox. It gets emptied every so often, so you won't be able to find it--$UIT 20:51, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

No, I think he/she may be right. I think I saw something like that recently, but I can't remember where. NIRVANA; if I find it, I'll let you know on your talk page. Adrian M. H. 21:05, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Well, not much luck from a search. There's the poetry archive, but that's probably not what you were thinking of. Might it have been a user's subpage? About 28000 results... Adrian M. H. 21:23, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Article

The famous people at South Park studios, such as Matt and Trey, have articles. If this is fair, I think I should have one too, because:

1. I made and drew the designs of a LOT of the characters, and 2. Token Black is based off of me, in fact I was originally going to do his voice.
Judt wondering. FictionH 20:11, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

See WP:N to find out if you meet notability requirements. If you don't, then you can't be the subject of an article. Then see WP:COI to find out why it is best that someone else writes it. Adrian M. H. 20:36, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

• • Okay, I've read it, I think I meet the requirements, so I'm gonna make an article about me. If any problems please delete it. FictionH 20:46, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

If you can be confident that you can write about yourself without bias and include only attributable and verifiable facts, then you'll be OK. Be sure to cite it properly from the get go, to avoid any deletion nominations. Adrian M. H. 21:02, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

You could write your first article draft in user space (such as: User:FictionH/article and request a review here, before adding it to the main article space. That way it is less likely to get deleted early if there are problems, and less likely to bias other editors against future attempts to recreate the same article if the first one should get deleted. --Teratornis 04:37, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

"How do I add an image to an article?"

"How do I add an image to an article?" —The preceding unsigned comment was added by RM1995 (talk • contribs) 20:35, 12 April 2007 (UTC).

See Wikipedia:Image tutorial. Dismas|^(talk) 20:38, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Did you want to add an existing image to an article or upload an image? Two very different things. Adrian M. H. 20:43, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Adding map coordinates to articles

How do you add map coordinates (appearing at the top right)to articles?

--Slwllng 20:50, 12 April 2007 (UTC)slwllng

See {{Coor title dms}} for documentation. Basically, you need to know the latitude and longitude (in degrees, minutes, and seconds) for this particular template. The documentation on that template also lists other templates, like {{Coor title dm}} for decimal degrees and minutes, and it has a link to the Manual of Style entry. --Elkman ^(Elkspeak) 20:57, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Actually it's all {{Coord}} now, with the other Coor* templates being deprecated, and a bot is going to convert them all real soon now. So says the {{Coord}} documentation and talk page notes. --Teratornis 04:40, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

code

I need code assistance to make the wording and pics on this page fade in order. Eg you press the button the alert image shows up it then fades then wording shows up it too then fades, more images show up then they too fade. It then stops at the red button waiting for you to click it and start the process over again. Thanxs in advance, «razorclaw 21:25:29, 04-12-2007»

Maybe I'm missing something but what does that have to do with Wikipedia? Dismas|^(talk) 21:27, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Um no it has nothing to do with a page in the namespace but one in my userspace. «razorclaw 01:12:29, 04-13-2007»

What you want is not possible. You cannot embed scripting code into a particular page on Wikipedia that will work for other users. Mike Dillon 01:17, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

Not even put it in my js file and transclude it unto the page? How about when you press the button it brings up a new message in order without re-loading the page? «razorclaw 01:40, 13 April 2007 (UTC)»

Nope. Allowing any random user to embed Javascript in the page that will execute for any viewer opens up the possibility of cookie stealing, cross site scripting, page view tracking, browser crashing, and other nastiness. The only way to have on-wiki JavaScript that executes for all users is to modify MediaWiki:Common.js or MediaWiki:Monobook.js (the other way is to get in included in MediaWiki itself, generally in the wikibits.js file). These files are only editable by admins and developers respectively for the reasons given above. Mike Dillon 14:53, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

Inappropriate use of userspace?

I'm not really familiar with the limitations of userboxes in user subpages/namespace. I stumbled across User:Black_Flag/Userboxes/anti_macro_evolution and it seems a bit needlessly inflammatory. Is this something that should be MfD'd? -Wooty Woot? contribs 21:56, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

I have seen userboxes enter MfD before (and successfully, I think). That might well be a candidate (although at least it's not anti-religion or something). Adrian M. H. 22:09, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

rick holden

I was trying to up dste the informstion on myself and found when I went back in that it wasn't there! What did I do wrong? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Rick holden (talk • contribs) 22:04, 12 April 2007 (UTC).

Your contribs show this as your only edit, so you haven't actually edited another page yet. What do you mean by "about yourself"? Writing/editing articles about yourself or your company is discouraged, for obvious reasons. See WP:COI for more info. Adrian M. H. 22:11, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Are you talking about these edits?. Corvus cornix 22:23, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

• You should probably read up on reliable sources. - Mgm|^(talk) 07:29, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

WWW disappearing from page link

I've just had a go at installing Wiki onto my website but have one problem.

Whenever i type out the domain name i.e. http://www.mydomain.com/wiki/ the page loads but it removes the www from the title so that the link shows as http://mydomain.com/wiki/index.php

edit: If i change the url to www.mydomain.com (by adding in the www) all the links work fine, but if i try to create a new page by changing the page name at the end of the link, it does the same as above, it creates the empty page but removes the www from the domain name again....which php page is doing this?

edit 2: Something is obviously redirecting the pages, but there must be some code somewhere which picks up the domain name when I create a new page. Someone must surely know which page or part of code does this?

anyone? please?

By "Wiki" do you mean MediaWiki? See: mw:Manual:Short URL, m:Eliminating index.php from the url, and m:Using a very short URL for some information about manipulating the URLs that your MediaWiki site appears under. What Web server are you running? --Teratornis 04:48, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Another idea: you could try running a local copy of your wiki under XAMPP or another server stack. That would give you a completely different server setup for comparison. See: m:Wiki on a stick.

Also see mw:Project:Support desk for help on running MediaWiki. The Help desk here is supposed to be for questions about editing on Wikipedia, but as you can see by reading here, some editors will try to answer just about anything. --Teratornis 04:53, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Many thanks for your help and sorry about the confustion of websites, it was nearly 2am here by the time I quit for the night so got the 2 sites confused with my many open windows. Finally found the solution here http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Short_URL#Solution_without_Alias using .htaccess which worked great. Thanks again.

How to find new pages I created

Is there a special search type or tool which can help me to find all the new pages I've created because I want to review the redirect pages I've made, to ensure they're properly tagged/categorised among other reasons, and searching for new pages I've originated would seem to be the easiest way to find them? Random Passer-by (talk) 22:33, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

When this was asked recently (trawl the archives if you're not short of time) I think that the answer was basically "not really". I have never found a way, but that certainly doesn't mean that there isn't one. It pays to keep a long watchlist, though, or keep a record of your creations. Adrian M. H. 22:41, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

user:Interiot will run a tool on request that does this (looking at an offline, often not very current, copy of the database). -- Rick Block (talk) 22:48, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Using the "My conttibutions" link and shoeing only pages in the main namespasce may let you figute them out, but it does not specifically show which edits were article creaions. But if your edit summary indicates that it was a creation, they would let you tell. By editing the URL, yopu can see as many as 5000 edits at a time in this way, i think. DES ^(talk) 12:59, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

Thank you all. Random Passer-by (talk) 19:01, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

It might be possible to make a list of pages you created by writing a script (for example, in Perl) that does the following:

1. Download all your contributions (for example, with wget).
2. Parse the output of wget to find your earliest edit to each page, and the date of your earliest edit.
3. Download the history of each page you edited; see if any edits predate your earliest edit to the page.

Actually, you might not need to find the date of your first edit in step 2, since the script could see if yours was the first edit to each page when you download the page histories in step 3.

See my comments in Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 February 28#Counter for "What links here" for a somewhat similar example of using wget to download content from Wikipedia and then process it with Unix commands. What you are asking for here seems more complicated than I would know how to jam into one command pipeline, so a script would probably be necessary. --Teratornis 20:41, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

How to create a forum in wiki?

I am trying to create a forum in a wiki I'm creating. I want it similar to Answers.Wikia. Is this do able in wiki or only wikia? I believe I need to create a Forum:Index page. If so how do I do this? Please point me in the right direction. 68.7.64.158 22:52, 12 April 2007 (UTC)—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.7.64.158 (talk) 22:48, 12 April 2007 (UTC).

Initially I would suspect Wiki Answers implemented its forum with one or more MediaWiki extensions. By default, each MediaWiki site displays its installed extensions on a Special:Version page (compare Wikipedia's to Wiki Answers'). However, I don't see anything on the Special:Version page for Wiki Answers with a name that suggests anything relating to a forum. So look at the source of the forum page. That is interesting, with a <table> tag containing <inputbox> and <forum> tags. To get the <inputbox> tag, you need to install the inputbox extension in your wiki. I don't know what you have to do to get the <forum> tag. You can Search Meta and Search MediaWiki.org; maybe you can figure that out. --Teratornis 05:14, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Biographies

I have twice now run into a biography page that was clearly copied from a website closely associated with the individual. Massoud Rajavi was quickly fixed, but it seems that Maryam Rajavi has had this issue before. Is there an appropriate template to flag such an article? The articles are not truly autobiographical, and although the content is not copied verbatim from the websites, the similarities are overwhelming. Thanks a lot. Dchall1 23:00, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

See WP:CP if the material is a copyright violation, or else you can tag them as "db-bio" if you feel the people are not notable enough to have their own articles. Corvus cornix 23:06, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

The people are definitely notable enough to stay, but I'll give this a try. Thanks! Dchall1 23:27, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Actaull, a copyright violation (direct copy-and-paste) should be tagged with {{db-copyvio}} Mr.Z-mantalk¢ 23:37, 12 April 2007 (UTC)