Help desk
< May 23	<< Apr \| May \| Jun >>	May 25 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Help Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current Help Desk pages.

May 24

hello

hello i'd like to delete my article arie crown hebrew day school.how do i do that?

You can place {{db-author}} at the top of the article. *Cremepuff 222* "As cool as grapes..." 01:03, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Uploading a Newly-Created File

When you create a file, and can see it on your watchlist, how do you upload it so it lives in the public Wikipedia? Thank you!

Go to Special:Upload, click the "Browse" button to get the pathname, specify a license (Creative Commons if it's your own work) and then click Upload. ~ Magnus animuM ≈ √∞ 01:36, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

When you see it on your watchlist, it's already on Wikipedia. - Mgm|^(talk) 08:47, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Banned

I just got banned for no reason! It says i vandalised, but id didnt. th only articles i changed were my own! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Kwahblivion (talk • contribs).

Your block log is empty, and you just edited this page. You don't seem banned to me so far. Where do you see this message? WODUP 02:48, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

mr yuk

where can i get free mr yuk stickers to use in my house for a toddler?

Try contacting your local Poison Control Center. The Help Desk is for questions about using Wikipedia, so I'm afraid we really can't help you much with that. Please check the header next time before posting. Hersfold ^(talk/work) 02:53, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Bristol, England from 1927-1951

How do I find out more information regarding Bristol, England between 1927 and 1951? Is this a good site? Thank you for your assistance.

My mother was born and raised in Bristol. She turns 80 this year (actually this past Tuesday)...I'm trying to recreate a timeline of Bristol from 1927 until 1951 when she left for the United States as a Fulbright Student.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. my email address is (E-Mail removed for security purposes)

Thank you. Jennifer

Hmmm, well each topic here has its own page... you might want to try Bristol, England for general information, and History of Bristol for historical info.

Also, if you have any more questions like this, please ask at the Reference Desk. The people here at the Help Desk are geared more for technical problems with the site, editing, etc. tiZom_(2¢) 05:41, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Watchlist: explanation of abbreviations

Where can I find an explanation of the abbreviations and "coding" used on my watchlist page?

For example:

diff) (hist) . . m Buckingham Palace‎; 00:29 . . (-62) . . Gurchzilla (Talk | contribs) (Revert 1 edit by 77.98.70.113 to last version by Neutrality)

This "copy and paste" omits color-coding and links on the watchlist list. Can someone please point me to a place where this is explained? Thank you. rich 03:54, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know of a place that has this info, but maybe I can help:

(diff) gives you the "diff" page, showing you the single edit that was made
(hist) gives you the history page, showing all edits
m indicates that it was a minor edit
Buckingham Palace is the article name
00:29 is the time the edit was made
(-62) is the net amount of characters (bytes?) that was added (in green) or removed (in red)
Gurchzilla is the user who made the edit
(Talk | contribs) gives you the talk page for Gurchzilla, and the list of his/her contributions
(Revert 1 edit by...) is the edit summary

Hope this helps! tiZom_(2¢) 05:35, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

By the way, where the m appears, you may also encounter a b (bot edit), or N (new page). tiZom_(2¢) 05:43, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Here's the help page about it: Help:Page_history Hersfold ^(talk/work) 14:27, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

And in general you can look up pages like this on User:John Broughton/Editor's Index to Wikipedia, a very large collection of links relating to editing on Wikipedia. The Editor's Index is useful because it groups related pages together (all the related pages the contributors to the Index know about). So, for example, if the help page on a subject does not answer your question, you might find another page on the subject that does, listed near the help page. --Teratornis 15:21, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Changing company logo

How do I go about changing the logo for "Jacuzzi". Our company has changed the tag and I'm trying to change it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ericka4jacuzzi (talk • contribs)

I see you already uploaded an image which was deleted.[1] Have you read User talk:Ericka4jacuzzi? In order to avoid copyright violations, images are deleted if they don't have an appropriate license which you must specify. See also Special:Upload. The "Licensing:" box has a drop-down menu (may require scrolling to reach). We cannot accept images that are only allowed to use on Wikipedia itself, because we allow others to use our content. PrimeHunter 11:41, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

published date

hi can ypu please tell me where wikipedia was published thnx — Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.108.98.235 (talk)

Wikipedia is a website that is freely editible by its visitors, so there's no single place where it was published. If you want to cite an article, please read Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia and use the "Cite this article" link in the menu bar on the left when you're at the relevant article. - Mgm|^(talk) 08:45, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

?

what is mean hammering? how to avoid? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.154.226.56 (talk)

I'm not sure if these questions come from the same person, so please sign your posts with four tildes (these: ~) so your name and the date of your message appear. Please be more specific. Right now I have no idea what you're after. - Mgm|^(talk) 08:45, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- "Hammering" comes from one IP, publication date from another. Excellent idea regardless! --Edwin Herdman 10:42, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hammering and wiktionary:hammer mention some possibilities. If these are not what you are looking for then you can also try Google.[2] PrimeHunter 11:05, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How do you fix a name error on submitted article?

The surname header of the subject of my article is not capitalized. How do I repair this and capitalize my subject's last name; if I can't do this the last name cannot be searched properly.

Thanks Romanone <email removed> —Preceding unsigned comment added by RomanOne (talk • contribs)

The article must be moved to change the name. Your account is less than 4 days old so you don't have the move tab. I have moved James anest to James Anest for you. PrimeHunter 10:56, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Creating an article

I would like to create the article Illogicopedia. However, I do not know if it is notable. Also, I think it would probably be deleted. Help? - 2-16 11:43, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Please read the notability guideline. PeaceNT 11:45, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If other editors don't think it satisfies the specific guideline WP:WEB then it may well be deleted. http://illogicopedia.wikia.com says it only has 936 articles and I haven't found mention of it in reliable sources, so it looks hard to show notability. PrimeHunter 11:54, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A search of WikiIndex for Illogicopedia finds nothing. You should start a page there, and then if Illogicopedia starts attracting enough notice for reliable sources to show up in Google searches (Google:Illogicopedia) then you might take your chances here with the deletionists. (I find it illogical that there isn't even an article on WikiIndex here.) --Teratornis 12:49, 25 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Blocking

Why are accounts that vandalise pags often blocked indefinetly but Ips never are reguardless of what they do? Alphablast 12:27, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

IPs have a tendency to change hands from person to person ('dynamic' IPs), and are often shared by more than one person ('shared' IPs); as a person's IP often changes frequently, there's no point in blocking an IP indefinitely because it wouldn't stop the vandal once their IP changed, but it might block innocent users by mistake. (Likewise, if you send a message to an IP's talk page, the user in question might never see it.) --ais523 12:37, 24 May 2007 (U T C)

See WP:BLOCK#Duration of blocks. Special:Ipblocklist shows some current IP blocks which will expire in 2012; that's not "indefinite" but it's probably long enough to allow most vandalkiddies time to grow up. --Teratornis 12:40, 25 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

SeaMiles article deleted - account blocked - trying to do it right

I'm new to Wikipedia. I tried to create an informational article about my company under the title SeaMiles. I followed, as best as I could, all of the rules about Neutral Point of View. Since SeaMiles is a loyalty program, I modeled the article somewhat after the format of Aeroplan and Air Miles.

Before I began, I created an account also called SeaMiles, which was permitted. However, after I created the article, my account was blocked because (I believe) it matched the name of an organization or website.

As a result, I created a new account (this one) called Bandit2001. When I tried to edit the SeaMiles article under the new user name, I was warned not to repost material that was previously deleted in accordance with Wikipedia's deletion policies.

How can I verify the reason for the deletion? I thought it might be because I created an external link in the original article, but the Aeroplan and Air Miles articles both had external links. When I tried to repost without the external link, that is when I was warned not to repost a deleted article.

Please help me understand what I need to change to repost this article.

Thanks, --Bandit2001 13:22, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

First, it's best to check why the article was deleted. If you go to Special:Log/delete and type in SeaMiles in the title field, you'll get this entry explaining the deletion. In this case, the admin gave a reason of 'csd g11'; this is shorthand for a speedy deletion as spam. See WP:SPAM for what is and isn't spam, and WP:CORP for the guidelines about inclusion of companies. You might also want to contact Merope, the admin who deleted the article, by editing User talk:Merope; they're likely to explain their deletion in more detail if you ask them why. Hope that helps! --ais523 13:30, 24 May 2007 (U T C)

Reading My Messages

I recieved a message a few days ago, but I clicked on the wrong link, and now I can't seem to find my message. And I never red it. Where can I find that message? --Robster1983 13:45, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Same place all your new messages go - your talk page. Looks like it was a welcome message, too. Confusing Manifestation 13:49, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thnx :-) Although I recieved that welcome message earlier. Perhaps something went wrong, and I recieved (again) a sign, that stated that I had a new message, while in fact I already red that message. Well, thnx for your help anyway :-) At least now I know that if I get a message, it can be red on my talkpage. --Robster1983 13:56, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This does not match what you describe but earlier today somebody left an inappropriate "message" on your user (not talk) page [3]. Another editor reverted it 4 minutes later and warned the perpetrator.[4] PrimeHunter 14:07, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Navbox editing

I am currently improving the Harry Potter portal. I wanted to add the harry potter books navigational template to the portal. This is the one : Template:Harrypotter.

I however couldn't change the color in this template from light violet to the general color of the Portal. I wanted to know how I can modify the color of the template. (I do not want the template changed cause it is used elsewhere. I would like to create a new template copying the existing details but changing the color). Any ideas?

Vinwe 14:28, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Replying on user talk Nihiltres^(t.c.s) 14:52, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hello.

I would like my user/talk pages unprotected, as I have returned from slumber, somewhat.--Manboobies 15:56, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

WP:RFPP also does page unprotection requests, even if the title of the page is misleading. x42bn6 Talk Mess 16:02, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thankyou for your assistance. I will copy the contents of this conversation to that forum for attention.--Manboobies 16:05, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

problem with page creation?

I attempted to create a new page TPL Tables. Everything seemed to work ok in the preview so I clicked Save Page. The page doesn't seem to be up. How long should it take for a new page to display? My page name has a blank in it. Is this a problem? Is there some other step besides Save Page that I must do? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Stephen E Weiss (talk • contribs).

You appear to have created Table Producing Language, not TPL Tables. I guess that is the article you are looking for. x42bn6 Talk Mess 18:20, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Help with posting

I read all the instructions but I still can't figure out how to add a listing. I se the "edit page" tab at the top but I really can't figure out how to post things correctly. Can you help me?

Thanks —The preceding unsigned comment was added by LPagliaro (talk • contribs).

To add a page, point your browser to the title which you wish to create, and then click edit this page. It is a little misleading but editing a non-created page creates an article. You might also wish to see Help:Starting a new page and Wikipedia:Your first article for more guidance. x42bn6 Talk Mess 18:26, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I AM HAVING A PROBLEM CREATING A PAGE

WHY CANT I CREATE A PAGE ABOUT A NEW YORK CITY NIGHTCLUB PROMOTER/CELEBRITY?

EVERYTIME I PUT THE PAGE UP IT IS TAKEN DOWN.. NOW IT SAYS I WILL BE DELETED FROM HERE IF I POST AGAIN..

WHAT IS THE PROCESS TO GETTING SOMEONE LISTED ON HERE? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Zailennyc (talk • contribs).

The problem with the page(s) you are trying to create is that they are either not notable enough for Wikipedia, or that they are being created to look like blatant advertising, something Wikipedia is not. x42bn6 Talk Mess 18:49, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The page is being deleted because it does not meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines. Please see the main guideline and one specifically for biographies. Basically, you need to provide evidence of nontrivial, third-party coverage of the subject, like an article in a magazine, newspaper, etc. Blogs, forums, myspace, etc are not enough to prove notablity. Mr.Z-mantalk¢ 18:53, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Page differences between IE7 and Firefox

I recently made an edit to The Fall (using Firefox, I don't know if this is relevant). Now I notice that if I view The fall (which is a redirect page to The Fall) using Internet Explorer 7.0.6, an older version of the article is displayed. This does not occur when I use Firefox 2.0.0.3 to view The fall. What is happening here? thanks --sparkl_!sm ^talk 19:18, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Did you try to purge your IE cache? Try using CTRL-F5 to get a "good" refresh, or if necessary go into your Internet options and delete all the temporary internet files. --After Midnight ⁰⁰⁰¹ 21:40, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Appealing vandalism warnings

I recently removed information from an article which I felt was irrelevant to the topic and politically biased. I received a vandalism warning for this from a registered user. How do I appeal this decision? I will continue to remove such information as it appears, since I believe it is inappropriate for this article. I don't want to be blocked because this single member has a different opinion than me, however. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.16.208.243 (talk • contribs) 14:31, 24 May 2007

Discuss the matter on the talk page of the article involved. If you can show reasoanble basis for thinkign that the contetn did not belong, even if others did not agree, it should be trated as a content dispute, and not as vandalism. Also, in future, when removing content for this sort of reason, it is better to discuss on the talk page, and if the removal might be controversial or disputed, discuss first. DES ^(talk) 20:13, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The details you removed about the subjects old college may have been of questionable relevance to the bio and maybe better suited for the college's own article. Note that a lot of unregistered IP's vandalize articles by removing content for no reason and with no edit summary. The editor who warned you is not an administrator and may not have looked too closely at the material you removed. Dealing with vandals can be pretty tiresome. Many editors may take you more seriously if you register and make edit summaries to explain your actions. Discussing controversial issues on an articles talk page is also good. You can discuss the warning with the editor who gave it at User talk:Cornellrockey. Maybe the editor will reconsider the warning if you explain why you made the edit. Only administrators can block you and they will look carefully at your edits before considering it. You don't have anything to worry about now, but to avoid future problems I really recommend to explain your edits with edit summaries and use talk pages for discussion. PrimeHunter 21:10, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Also, it helps to include an edit summary, especially if you're making a change that may appear controversial, such as removing a large chunk of text. It's much less likely to be viewed as vandalism if, when looking at the history, you've explained it as "removing unencyclopedic content" or "removing potential copyvio from some website" or such (the summary should match the edit made, of course). Confusing Manifestation 22:47, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

warning template removal template

Hi I thought there was a user warning template that says not to remove other user warnings from your talk page. I can't seem to find it, anyone have an acceptable template? Thanks. -- Diletante 20:24, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I guess the {{subst:uw-delete1|User talk:USERNAME}} series would suffice. ~ Magnus animuM ≈ √∞ 20:31, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Actually there is no template for this, because WP:USER explictly says that it is permitted. Many editors fronmw on it, but it is permitted, so any "warning" should be carfully hand-crafted, IMO. DES ^(talk) 21:11, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Image tags booking pictures

I am sure I have seen a number of booking pictures [taken when a person is arrested and booked] in Wikipedia articles, and there was a specific tag that allowed them as Wikipedia images, but I cannot right now find any, and cannot find the applicable tag. Are these not public domain, and able to be uploaded? I am asking NOT about federal booking but state/municipality.--Dumarest 20:36, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If the image was taken by the U.S. federal government, it gets a public domain tag like the images at John Gotti. And can be uploaded to the Commons. Dismas|^(talk) 20:41, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

User password change by sysop

I am a sysop for a Wiki, I have a user that lost his password and would like me to change it for him, is this possible? I don't see an option to edit user accounts.

Thanks[[User:|Melusine]] 15:54,30 December ,2024

I'm pretty certain that you can't change the password, but if the user gave his/her e-mail upon registration, he/she can have a new password sent. *Cremepuff 222* "As cool as grapes..." 21:12, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks!

Formatting

I usually browse in Firefox. However, today I was browsing in MSIE and noticed that the formatting is not working for this box. All the individual templates are spilling out of the box from my current view. At first, I thought there was a problem with mismatching <td> tags, but this was not the problem. TonyTheTiger (talk/cont/bio/tcfkaWCDbwincowtchatlotpsoplrttaDCLaM) 21:10, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

That would be a problem with the div tag's "overflow" feature. I'm not sure what caused it in this case because it's set to "overflow:auto", which should make things look as they should. You might be able to correct for it (unless it's just a blip in Internet Exploder) somewhat by adding another div 1px taller with "overflow:none" the only attribute. I'm using a browser in which it looks fine (Safari), so you'll have to make the change to see the results. Nihiltres^(t.c.s) 21:19, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think you are telling me to add <div style="height: 251px; overflow:none;"> following <div style="height: 250px; overflow:auto; border: 1px solid gray; background-color: #f5ffff; ">. That does not work. TonyTheTiger (talk/cont/bio/tcfkaWCDbwincowtchatlotpsoplrttaDCLaM) 22:44, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

formatting a userbox

Hello all. I want to change the size of some written text in the left part ('picutre') of my user box. I am submitting the coding for two userboxes. I know how to change the size of a picture to be exactly 36px, but cannot figure out how to change the text size. Also, just look at my user page and you will see the Caltech text is a little to big. The first code is for the caltech userbox, in which the words caltech are too big. The second is for an evolution userbox in which the picture is formatted to the useful size of 36 pixels. Any help is appreciated.

<div style="float: left; border:solid  1px; margin: 1px;">
{| cellspacing="0" style="width: 238px; background: ;"
| style="width: 45px; height: 45px; background: ; text-align: center; font-size: {{{5|{{{id-s|14}}}}}}pt; color: {{{id-fc|black}}};" | '''Caltech'''
| style="font-size: {{{info-s|8}}}pt; padding: 4pt; line-height: 1.25em; color: {{{info-fc|black}}};" | This user is a student at the [[California Institute of Technology]].
|}</div>

<div style="float: left; border:solid  1px; margin: 1px;">
{| cellspacing="0" style="width: 238px; background: ;"
| style="width: 45px; height: 45px; background: ; text-align: center; font-size: {{{5|{{{id-s|14}}}}}}pt; color: {{{id-fc|black}}};" | '''[[Image:Lq-dna.png|36px]]'''
| style="font-size: {{{info-s|8}}}pt; padding: 4pt; line-height: 1.25em; color: {{{info-fc|black}}};" | This user understands [[biological evolution]].
|}</div>

Thanks, M.manary 21:42, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

And never mind. I copied the code from someone elses userbox. M.manary 22:05, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

When you answer your own question, please <strike> it, as I did above. That way Help desk volunteers will quickly know the question is no longer awaiting an answer. --Teratornis 12:14, 25 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Orange/Yellow bar?

Didn't there used to be an orange/yellow bar that lit up when you had new messages?--69.118.235.97 22:24, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, there still is. However, it's buggy for IP contributors and sometimes won't show up and/or gets stuck on permanently. You can get around the problem by creating an account, or just wait for the developers to fix the error. --tjstrf talk 22:28, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

See Category:Wikipedians_who_are_terribly_frustrated_about_Bug_ID_9213 for more info on this bug. -- _Hdt83 ^Chat 03:53, 25 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Policy about pictures?

Ok I took a picture of a parade during Tulip Time Festival and I would like to upload it to commons, but I have to make sure that pictures of a parade participants is releasable under the GFDL licence. BeckyAnne (talk) 23:04, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, pictures you take of any public event or scene where you are present lawfully are yours to do with as you wish, includign releasing under the GFDL if you choose. DES ^(talk) 14:32, 25 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]