Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 December 4

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December 4

Can't find a link within an article

I'm trying to figure out why Pamela Anderson and Anna Nicole Smith link to the redirect for Playmate (the article is actually at Playboy Playmate). I don't see any reason why these two articles link there and it's driving me a bit nuts. Anyone have any idea? Dismas|^(talk) 01:19, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Anna Nicole Smith#See also currently contains *[[Playmate|List of Playboy Playmates]]. I null edited Pamela Anderson and it disappeared from Special:WhatLinksHere/Playmate. Maybe a link table update from your edit [1] to {{Playmates of 1990}} was waiting in the job queue. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:53, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Cool! Thanks! I had null edited the templates but not that article. Didn't think it was necessary. Dismas|^(talk) 22:19, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Adding an image to an existing page

I'm about as frustrated as can be. I think Wikipedia is the worst place on the web to get a simple question answered!!! I have images I've photographed of hundreds of species of birds and animals, some of them the rarest on earth, and simply want to add them to the wikipedia pages where they exist but have no image.

I don't want to be sent to some link that tries in vain to explain how, as I've yet to figure out how to do this! This should be, I would think, a very typical and common request. How to edit an existing page to add content, etc.!!!!!

Yet I cannot find anything about it. I cannot even figure our the Contact Us pages of how to ask this question and after an hour of trying all kinds of links found this page to ask a question.

Can someone please, help me? I'm not iliterate, I have a Masters degree in Engineering, have produced numerous websites of my own, and am the owner of a Computer Consulting firm!!! Yet, this wikipedia site is unbelievable that you cannot find a simple questions answer.

Please tell me the exact steps to do this. Example, there is a page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pechora_Pipit for a species of bird called Pechora Pipit. I've uploaded the image to Wikipedia (figured that out) yet have no clue now how to get it on the page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pechora_Pipit so that you would now have an image of that species!!!

Maybe simple for wikipediaites, but not the everyday person as myself!

Any suggestions?

Now I find the only button to click on below is "Save Page"?????? What is that supposed to mean? Is this request going to some wikipedia page somewhere in cyberspace or to a homo sapien that can answer my questions????!!! Guess all I have the option to do is that, Save Page!!! STUPID link for SUBMITTING a question!!!!!!!

Monte Taylor http://www.tsuru-bird.net —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.166.132.19 (talk) 01:42, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

If you look at the pages you have tried to edit (assuming you got thus far), there should be a similar button. Before we can talk about saving, first we need to make the edit. Click the edit tab at the top of a page. For example, practise doing so at the top of the sandbox (direct link). Then, in the text field, locate where you want to add or remove something, and do so (treat it as you would a text processor). Try this in the sandbox as well. Following is the image syntax as simple as I can make it. Type the following, exactly as it appears: [[File:IMAGENAME|thumb|XXpx]]. Now, replace IMAGENAME with the exact name of your image, copypasted from the file page (including the .jpg, .svg, .png, whatever, but not File:; that is already there). Replace XX with a number between say, 100 to 500, 100 being smallest, and 500 being largest. In theory it is possible to go without these limits, but most images in articles are in this range. You can try this in the sandbox; use Example.jpg for IMAGENAME if you do. Intelligentsium 01:56, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

OK, What is the "replace IMAGENAME with the exact name of your image" Image??? Where do I get this link or reference? I thought I could use my website link? No?? Where does this info come from? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tsuru8 (talk • contribs) 02:01, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

You said you've uploaded an image to Wikipedia. So what Intelligentsium means is to first type [[File:IMAGENAME|thumb|XXpx]], then delete the word IMAGENAME, and type the name of the image you uploaded in its place. Then follow the rest of his instructions. --Mysdaao ^talk 02:06, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

I did exactly what you said, copied the [[File:IMAGENAME|thumb|XXpx]] onto the edited page for Pechora Pipit, and then changed IMAGENAME to "http://tsuru-bird.net/a_species/pipit_pechora/pipit_pechora_spring_attu-island_alaska_1a.jpg" then changed the XXpx to 150 for starters. Nothing seems to show up when I click on the "Show Preview" to see the image show up on the webpage. So, something is wrong, and not intuitive. Thank you for your reply and additional instructions too. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tsuru8 (talk • contribs) 02:14, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

An image can't be used in a Wikipedia article from an external website. Before adding it, it has to be uploaded to Wikipedia by clicking "Upload file" on the left side of any page. However, not all images can be uploaded. Wikipedia can't accept copyrighted images. If you're able to upload it, please do so and then try again to add it to an article. --Mysdaao ^talk 02:19, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Ok, got as far as getting the image showing up now, by using the "name" I gave it on Wikipedia when I uploaded it. I had asked about the website URL in my previous question but now you've answered you can't use that, so changed the reference to the name I gave it when uploading to Wikipedia.

So, the next question, and hopefully last, is how do I get the image to show up on the top right portion of the page as all the other pages I see on Wikipedia of a species where the pic is at the top right portion of the page? Mine is showing up in the preview at the bottom right of the page. Thanks in advance! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tsuru8 (talk • contribs) 02:23, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Pechora Pipit

Thanks for contributing images. I see you uploaded File:Pechora Pipit spring Attu-island Alaska.jpg to Wikimedia Commons. Images can also be uploaded directly to the English Wikipedia but it's best to upload to Commons when the license allows it as in your case. Images at Commons and at the English Wikipedia are added to articles in the same way. If you want the image to be part of the box to the right of Pechora Pipit then see Template:Taxobox#Images (some other similar looking boxes can have other code for adding images). If you want to add a stand-alone image elsewhere in the article then see Wikipedia:Images#Using images. For example, the following code produces the image to the right: [[File:Pechora Pipit spring Attu-island Alaska.jpg|thumb|alt=Photography of a small bird standing in snow|Pechora Pipit]]. The same software and user interface is used to ask questions, answer questions, edit articles, and most other things. This can sometimes be confusing to new contributors. Please come back here if you have more questions. This is a good place to ask them. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:26, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

GOT IT !!!!! Thanks for your help!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tsuru8 (talk • contribs) 02:30, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I'm afraid you'll have to crop that particular image. There is some noise, but more importantly, it says "Copyright 2009 - Monte M Taylor"; you'll have to edit that out before you put it on any articles. Intelligentsium 02:32, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

You can see how another page did something by clicking "edit this page" and look at the code. For example, Mountain Pipit adds an image to the box with these parameters to {{Taxobox}}:

| image =Mountain Pipit (Anthus hoeschi).jpg
| image_caption = Top of [[Sani Pass]], border of South Africa and Lesotho.

"File:" is not included in the file name when using {{Taxobox}}, but there are other situations where it has to be included. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:41, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Template:Taxobox#Images says the image size in the taxobox is controlled with a parameter of form | image_width = 320px. Another editor added the parameter | size = 300 but the parameter name size is not recognized by Template:Taxobox and therefore ignored. Anyway, it's often best to omit an image size in an infobox. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:53, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

No INR donation option

I would like to donate some money to Wikipedia in INR but you do not have an option to donate in INR. Please add that option so many other Indians can donate too. I would suggest you to have an aggrement with SBI (State Bank of India) which is a national and most popular bank in India. Else you can go with International banks like HSBC/Citi etc.

Thanks, MKD

• It's not the most trustworthy of sources, but it appears there are legal problems when it comes to using Paypal in India (http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum31/1519.htm), which I assume is your donation method of choice. That's not something Wikipedia can change. Credit cards are processed by Paypal too. Have you considered donating using another method? - 131.211.211.252 (talk) 12:53, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Bookmarking Paricular Items for a Personal Wiki

Is there a mechanism to bookmark or capture particular definitions/entries to form a personal Wiki or glossary? .. to allow later review of the subset of definitions of interest? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.201.88.62 (talk) 05:40, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Books may be close to what you are looking for. --Jayron32 06:12, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Is it for a quick reference to a policy or main page article you are looking for? You can setup links in your userspace and name them whatever would assist you in remembering where they direct to. You can also setup things called anchors within the link to go directly to a section of article. This can be explained in detail if this is what you are referring to. Calmer Waters 06:23, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Personal wiki has a specific technical definition. Is that what you mean? Or do you mean Your very own Wikipedia bookmark page? To do the latter, you have to create an account first. --Teratornis (talk) 21:36, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Autocomplete on Wikipedia

Is there a page on the autocomplete feature for the search box providing more information about it, e.g its history, what the order of appearance is based on? Richard001 (talk) 09:33, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

• No, autocomplete has nothing to do with Wikipedia, the information it uses comes straight from your browser. Wikipedia has nothing to do with it. - 131.211.211.252 (talk) 12:47, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

By default, Wikipedia does show a list of suggestions in the search box based on what has been typed. It's described briefly at Wikipedia:FAQ/Readers#How do I search Wikipedia?, but I can't find any page with more information. --Mysdaao ^talk 13:18, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Maybe more information can be found by searching terms used here: mw:Manual:$wgAjaxSearch, mw:Manual:$wgEnableMWSuggest, rev:33400. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:55, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

The order is based on number of links to article, as well as if there is an exact match. Redirects to article that differ in case are removed. --rainman (talk) 14:27, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Photos at Flickr

Was wondering if photos posted at pictures/2559131312/ Flickr qualify as free images we can use at Wiki, since they have been effectively published in what looks like the public domain.

Orestes654 (talk) 10:20, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Nope, they're licenced as 'All rights reserved'. See the acceptable licences at Wikipedia:FLICKR. 10:23, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

You can use {{Flickr free}} to search for photos on Flickr that are licensed suitably for uploading to Wikimedia Commons. For example, this search finds 150 freely-licensed photos of which many show the Sony Center which is the subject of some of the non-free photos you linked to:

• Search Flickr for images with the keywords: Sony-Center, Potsdamer Platz under these licenses: cc-by or cc-by-sa

For more information see Commons:COM:EIC#Flickr. Also, Don't abbreviate Wikipedia as Wiki. --Teratornis (talk) 21:42, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Deleted?

(del/undel) 23:00, December 3, 2009 (hist | diff) PAGENAME

I came across an edit in someone's history that looked like the above line. It can't have been deleted, because I'm an admin. So I must've missed something while I was away. Does this mean we can now see an oversighted edit used to be there? - Mgm|^(talk) 13:04, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)/Archive 57#Oversight logs. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:38, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

The oversight extension has been replaced with the RevDelete extension. I believe that RevDelete has multiple levels of operation; if an Admin deletes a revision using it, then other admins can still see and undelete the contents of the revision. If an oversighter or other high functionary RevDeletes a revision (so-called "Suppression mode"), then only someone at THEIR level has that option, and admins cannot see the contents of the revision. However, RevDelete, unlike oversight, leaves a "ghost" behind, indicating that the revision existed. See WP:REVDELETE for a fuller explanation. --Jayron32 13:37, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

RevDelete can also suppress or not suppress the edit summary or editor. This allows you to leave a non-rule-violating edit summary or username up while deleting the contents, or suppress all if the username and/or edit summary were inflammatory or otherwise suppression-worthy. My guess is that username and edit summary suppression is mostly vandalism or harassment-related. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 14:46, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

No regional presence in India

hi, was just curious why WIKI doesnt have a regional office in India, i think there is formidable number of netizens from india, who regularly refer WIKI

Also, as already mentioned in one of the earlier posts there is no option for donation in INR and no tie ups with the national/private banks from india. See in times like these is when we can get in touch with the regional offices

would like to know if i can donate through Debit Card, under the Credit card option ??

Thanks, Santosh —Preceding unsigned comment added by Santoshkamble (talk • contribs) 13:22, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

I assume you mean Wikimedia, the parent company of Wikipedia. The word "wiki" is a generic term for the kind of software that Wikipedia and other Wikimedia websites use, but it has no additional connection to the company or the website. According to the article on Wikimedia, there is no local chapter in India; however if you are interested, you may be able to start one yourself. I have no idea what is involved in starting a local chapter, but see this link which contains information on how to actually start a local chapter. --Jayron32 13:42, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

To answer your second question, if the debit card is a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card, then it can be used like a credit card with that option. --Mysdaao ^talk 17:16, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

• If you scroll up a couple of questions you'll find a question about donation in INR which may interest you. -0 87.211.75.45 (talk) 18:20, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

difference between two companies should be added

like i would like to knoe what is difference between Times of india and Deccan chronicle news paper what are the major differences between both. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chaitunvk (talk • contribs) 13:44, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

You are free to read the Wikipedia articles The Times of India and The Deccan Chronicle yourself and arrive at your own conclusions. They are seperately run newspapers with different parent companies, so I don't know that there are expected to be anything similar between them except that they are both Indian newspapers. --Jayron32 13:54, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Editing Advice

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 15:55, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Please refer to Game_Boy_music#Artists and note how many MySpace, unofficial, and unverified entries there are in this list. I am very tempted to remove all entries that do not already have an exiting Wikipedia article. Does anyone else think this change would be warranted? WAT (talk • contributions) 15:26, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Oh good lord, yes. What a mess. When I run across things like that, I remove anything that doesn't link to a legit Wikipedia article. TNXMan 15:32, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Ha! Ok, thank you for the confirmation. WAT (talk • contributions) 15:35, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Sources

I am new and confused, and my question is how do I show that an addition I made is verifiable and accurate? The Conqueror Worm (talk) 16:42, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

You provide citations to reliable sources (i.e., not gossip sites, blogs, etc.); and you format those cites in an acceptable manner (see WP:CITE for instructions on how to do so). --Orange Mike | Talk 16:44, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Would a blog from a newspaper qualify. As in, a reporter's blog on the newspaper website. The Conqueror Worm (talk) 16:51, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

If it's on the newspaper's website, and the newspaper is itself a reliable source, then yes; but you must not go beyond what is on the website with your own conclusions, deductions, reasoning, etc. --Orange Mike | Talk 17:00, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Also, comments made by the reporter are OK, but comments made by readers are not (unless the reporter indicates the reader was right, such as a reader pointing out an error in a column and the reporter acknowledging he/she had indeed made an error.) --Jc3s5h (talk) 17:04, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

A blog qualifies if the person exercising editorial control over the blog and the person making the statement are both reliable sources. Newspapers vary. A newspaper blog which "speaks for" the newspaper is as reliable as the paper itself, providing the text is written by or later explicitly endorsed by someone speaking on behalf of the paper. A "reporter blog" or "columnist blog" may or may not be reliable depending on circumstances. Some newspapers give reports and columnists great leeway on blogs, treating them like an in-house WordPress or other blog. Others insist that employees running blogs on the newspaper's web site act as if they were writing a printed column and expect them to act in accordance with high journalistic standards. Caveat reader. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 17:35, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

I ask a Q in the RD. It's removed. I ask the editor about it in the editor's talk page. It too was removed. Now what do I do?

Resolved

 – I think we're done... – ukexpat (talk) 02:22, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Here is the question as it existed.
(last question--about the soldiers and welfare)
[2]
Thanks for your help.
:-D
Civic Cat (talk) 17:52, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

• Questions at the RD aren't supposed to evoke political discussions. Some people will agree with it, others will find it ridiculous. But any answer would be an opinion rather than something factual which is what the RD is meant for. That's why I suspect it was removed. - 87.211.75.45 (talk) 18:18, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm sure many questions can evoke political discussions. e.g. "What did Obama do this week?". However, given how Wikipedia has many articles, I'm wouldn't be too surprised that there would be a few that would decently provide some facts in this.Civic Cat (talk) 18:24, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

I am in perfect agreement in the removal of the question, but for the editor to delete your question about it on his talk page is incredibly rude. Granted, it's hard to tell if you were trying to be funny with the way you phrased it (it sounds kind of rude itself), but Ghostexorcist failed to assume good faith in this case. As for the information you were originally seeking, try rephrasing it as a search for references or sources, and try to keep your inflammatory thesis out of it as much as possible. —Akrabbim^talk 18:46, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

So noted. I will consider my actions. It might be that I will have to search through Wikipedia and other sources. Perhaps it is time to set up my own webpage and pose a question, do a few hours of research, and post my results and conclusions to the question.
:-D
I will monitor my postings of this question in Answerbag and RationalWiki
:-D
Civic Cat (talk) 19:04, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Aside from being more philosophical than factual in nature (and thus not suitable for the reference desk), the phrasing makes it read like you were trolling, rather than seeking actual information. --Orange Mike | Talk 20:09, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

The question was ill-posed, since few people could agree on what constitutes a "glorified welfare recipient". Presumably you understand that a "welfare recipient" is under no obligation to do any sort of work in return for receiving money, whereas soldiers have to perform many duties. Next time, try asking a question using something other than loaded language, and stating a premise that most educated people can understand. In other words, try to separate your personal value judgments from the questions you have about your personal value judgments. You could unravel your personal value judgments into preliminary questions, for example. You might ask about what constitutes a "welfare recipient" and whether it is possible for a "welfare recipient" to be "glorified", and what that might mean. --Teratornis (talk) 21:55, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Why am I not an "Autoconfirmed User" yet?

Resolved

 –  – ukexpat (talk) 02:21, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

MY account is now more than 4 days old and my preferences state that I have made 22 edits which is more than 10. I still can't upload an image in the English wikipedia because it says I'm not autoconfirmed yet. What else do I have to do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by JTallacksen (talk • contribs) 19:14, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

I've gone ahead and autoconfirmed your account. Let us know if you have further issues. TNXMan 19:19, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

The reason you weren't autoconfirmed before is because your account isn't 4 complete days old yet. That will happen at 21:30 UTC today. --Mysdaao ^talk 19:21, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Keep up with new articles

Is there a page on Wikipedia that lists recent article additions or changes to articles? I was reading about WikiGnomes and the like, and some of those involved active participation in new content. How do people keep up with the new content? Sheeeeeeep (talk) 19:56, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

You mean Special:NewPages and Special:RecentChanges? --Orange Mike | Talk 20:05, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Reviewing an article

Hello,

I'm trying to review an article. The message at the top of the page says,

This page is a new unreviewed article. This template should be removed once the page has been reviewed by someone other than its creator; if necessary the page should be appropriately tagged for cleanup.

I am not the creator and wish to review the article so this message can be removed from the page. How do I do this?

Thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.146.193.25 (talk) 20:38, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Which article are you seeking to review? I'm not sure if perhaps you need to be a registered editor to handle that. --AndrewHowse (talk) 20:44, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

That template is added automatically to articles that are created by the wiz. Anyone can review and remove the template, except I guess the creator of the article.  – ukexpat (talk) 20:53, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for your response. I'm trying to review an entry titled "Carbon lock-in". I'm pretty sure I'm not a registered editor. I did not understand that that was the process. If that's the case, how does this article ever get reviewed? Thanks again for your reply. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.146.193.25 (talk) 21:45, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Carbon lock-in - you don't have to be a registered user to edit an article, so just click on the edit tab at the top of the article and have at it, but please read WP:EDIT first. – ukexpat (talk) 21:56, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Hello - Okay, so I've followed your recommenation and I've gone to "edit this page" however, I don't have any edits to make I simply want to "review" the article so the "unreviewed" message box is removed from this entry. I've searched the wiki FAQ's along with the document you've shared but I've been unsuccessful. Am I missing something? Thanks!

New Topic

Sir or madam,

I wonder if you could help me. I am considering writing an article on Wikipedia about a new political party my friend is setting up. He has no idea how to use Wikipedia so thats why I am creating the article.

The party is not registered at the moment, but hopes to be within the next 12 months. Would I have to wait until the party is registered in the UK, or could we upload an information section about the political party beforehand?

It will be a UK based party, it is currently very small, however my friend says he is expecting to create "many waves" in politics so there will be a fair bit of coverage on his party.

Would Wikipedia be interested in letting me upload his information about the party?

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Smithster1001 (talk • contribs) 21:15, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

A new political party is almost certain to fail our notability requirements - please take a look at WP:ORG and WP:RS. – ukexpat (talk) 21:20, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

And see WP:UPANDCOMING and WP:ALTOUT. --Teratornis (talk) 21:57, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks again, followed these instructions, however, when I go to the edit page another page comes up asking for edits, and I've commented I'm not making edits, simply reviewing, hitting "save change" and the message box is still there. Thoughts? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tarazb (talk • contribs) 22:24, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Those pages that were linked by Teratornis and ukexpat should be read, not edited. Or am I misunderstanding your question? Xenon54 / talk / 22:37, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Um, don't. It is likely to be deleted as failing notability requirements and if it is heavily edited by anyone with a conflict of interest that person's edits will be subject to even more scrutiny. Instead, wait until the party is officially running for at least one election and add it to List of political parties in the United Kingdom. Do not create an article or red-link at this time unless the party clearly meets the notability requirements. Once the party gets enough mainstream press someone with no connection to the party will try to look it up on Wikipedia, see that there is no article, and create one.

Wikipedia is, or ideally at least is a lagging indicator of notability. This lag may be only a few minutes, such as with major news events like celebrity deaths, or years, such as with celebrities on the C- or D-list. But it should never be a leading indicator. That is, there should not be an article about a subject that is not yet notable. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 23:40, 4 December 2009 (UTC)