Help desk
< October 31	<< Oct \| November \| Dec >>	November 2 >

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.

November 1

PLOTS BEHIND SONG

Hi, I would like to add the plots behind a few songs that are in an article of my interest. Is this appropriate to do on the artist's article? It'd be under the album the songs are off of, and I'd write the plot of the songs. So, should I go ahead and write what the song is about, or just leave it out? I want to do this, cause the sections of this certain album isn't very long, and I was wondering what else I could add. Thanks.. Moptopstyle1 00:22, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure quite what you mean by 'plots' behind songs; but I guess you are referring to what the writer meant, or was inspired by. If you have reliable sources for this information, and you think it is appropriate to an encyclopaedia, please add it, with references. But if it is just rumour (even rumour that has appeared in print), or if it is your own take on the song, then please do not put it in the article. --ColinFine (talk) 09:47, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

As I replied to your first posting of this question, and as ColinFine says, if you have reliable sources of information then it can be added. I forgot to mention [[WP:OR|original research ("your own take" as Colin so nicely puts it!), then it would not be appropriate for inclusion. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 11:42, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Oh ok thanks. and that one guy (ColinFine) shares the name with the drummer of House of Heroes. (COLIN Rigsby) Thought that was kind of convenient. hahah. thanks. User:Moptopstyle1 (resolved) —Preceding undated comment added 21:49, 1 November 2009 (UTC).[reply]

Cool stuff on user pages

Hi, how do you make these kind of things on the User's wiki article?

I don't know how to explain it, but it's where you say something and then you have the animation.

Ex. THIS USER HAS VISITED GERMANY and then it has a picture of Germany's flag in the box.

I have no idea how to make these things. Moptopstyle1 01:04, 1 November 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moptopstyle1 (talk • contribs)

They are called userboxes, which are a specific kind of template message. Read up on Wikipedia:Userboxes and Wikipedia:Template messages. —Akrabbim^talk 01:06, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! Moptopstyle1 01:21, 1 November 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moptopstyle1 (talk • contribs)

Wait, but I still don't understand how to make them. Moptopstyle1 01:27, 1 November 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moptopstyle1 (talk • contribs)

Well to actually make one you need to know a bit about template syntax. But I suspect you mean how to get it to render on your user page. You would go to Wikipedia:Userboxes#Gallery, then choose a topic area and navigate there through the links. All of those pages have displays of the userboxes and the template code next to them. So, for example, if you really wanted to tell the world how much you loved camels, you'd place that template by going to Wikipedia:Userboxes/Animals, seeing the template below as one you liked, and placing the code next to the display on your talk page: {{User:Iamawesome800/Userboxes/Camel}}. Also, when you see a person's user page that has a userbox you'd like to use yourself, you can click edit this page and then find the template code and copy it for your own use. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:33, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This user likes Camels

Thanks! Now I have a million user boxes on my page! ha! User:Moptopstyle1 RESOLVED thanks!

Asking for rights for photo?

I want to add a photo to the crassula falcata page. There is a good photo [1] with a creative commons license. How does this work? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.111.55.254 (talk) 01:19, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sorry, but we cannot take CC-BY-NC-ND, except as fair use. Only CC-BY-SA or a similar licence is accepted by the Wikipedia definition of "free" image. Intelligentsium 01:50, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Alternatively, if you have a contact for the copyright owner, then read Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials for details on how the copyright owner can grant permission for its use on Wikipedia. As Intelligentsium says, as it stands the picture can't be used, but with the copyright owner's explicit permission, we could (basically, either the copyright owner changes the licensing on the website to a CC-BY-SA one, or contacts the Wikimedia Foundation granting permission for its inclusion on a CC-BY-SA basis.) -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 11:46, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

bad impacts of information system to an organisation

can anyone tell me what is the bad impacts of information system to an organisation?? i need more information about this.. waiting for your reply soon... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bebezaii (talk • contribs) 03:29, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You might find what you are looking for in the article about Information system. If you cannot find the answer there, you can try asking your question at Wikipedia's Reference Desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer just about any question in the universe (except about how to use Wikipedia, which is what this help desk is for). I hope this helps. Please note however, that Wikipedia will not do your homework for you. TN X Man 03:30, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

kawasaki - Barako A - 175cc

How can I get a picture of this motorcycle?Doug Craft 04:41, 1 November 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Doug Craft (talk • contribs)

Try google images. But for future references, this page is for asking for help about using Wikipedia. Someguy1221 (talk) 06:08, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

info

I put in real valid data but it did not post and I did not get a message. Why did this happen? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bnn654 (talk • contribs) 05:54, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It looks like your edit didn't go through at all. It wasn't deleted, and it wasn't blocked; it just didn't happen as far as the website is concerned. Why don't you try doing it again and seeing what happened. Are you sure you clicked save page, and didn't get any kind of message? Someguy1221 (talk) 06:06, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The most common cause of this problem is that you clicked on the Show Preview button instead of the Save Page Button:

If you do not click on Save Page, the edit will not be kept. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 12:02, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

management

management: its nature and scope.the management processes,planning, organisation staffing directing and controlling —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dassubhash (talk • contribs) 06:12, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Please do your own homework.

Welcome to Wikipedia. Your question appears to be a homework question. I apologize if this is a misinterpretation, but it is our aim here not to do people's homework for them, but to merely aid them in doing it themselves. Letting someone else do your homework does not help you learn nearly as much as doing it yourself. Please attempt to solve the problem or answer the question yourself first. If you need help with a specific part of your homework, feel free to tell us where you are stuck and ask for help. If you need help grasping the concept of a problem, by all means let us know.

You might find useful information in the article on management. —teb728 t c 06:59, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

gta san andreas

my gta san andreas stops working after i start a new game —Preceding unsigned comment added by 221.120.234.9 (talk) 06:37, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 6 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. —teb728 t c 06:52, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

How to Get NPOV Tag?

Hello Wikipedia-Help Desk People!

How can an Editor get NPOV tag on an article that he/she belives is bias? Sir Floyd (talk) 10:14, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

here's an assortment of template banners: WP:Template_messages/Cleanup#Neutrality_and_factual_accuracy Sssoul (talk) 10:22, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, but don't you need a peer review or something for it to be done. Sir Floyd (talk) 10:44, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

you can tag it yourself if there's a dispute going on over a perceived bias in an article. of course, the act of placing the banner can also be regarded as biassed; if it's outside opinions you want, try the NPOV noticeboard Sssoul (talk) 11:04, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! Sir Floyd (talk) 14:14, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Sssoul (& the rest of the Help Desk People). What if I'm not happy with the "NPOV noticeboard" response, where can I go from there. Sir Floyd (talk) 14:25, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If you didn't get the response for which you were looking, there's not a lot you can do, aside from starting a discussion on the article's talk page. Wikipedia works by consensus and forum shopping in order to get a response you want is highly discouraged. TN X Man 14:29, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I see, thanks anyway Tnxman. Sir Floyd (talk) 14:51, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

i see you have a question open on the NPOV noticeboard, but it's not clear that anyone uninvolved has proposed anything, so you might want to give that more time. if that doesn't lead to any resolution, since it's a content dispute, i guess WP:RFC or WP:mediation would be the next step (but as Tnxman307 notes there are limits to how many avenues you can try before it looks like forum shopping). Sssoul (talk) 15:34, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for going the extra mile on this one. I shall take your advice and wait a little longer. Sir Floyd (talk) 16:19, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Humor

Why there are humorous Wikipedia namespace pages like Wikipedia:FLAMEBOX? This really is an encyclopedia, and no humor should be included. I expect a serious answer for this question, and not a reply with more nonsense.--Mikespedia (talk) 10:26, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Humor. Note that the Project namespace is not part of the encyclopedic content (i.e. the articles). --Teratornis (talk) 10:35, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I might also add that no need exists to read the essays that someone intends to be humorous. All the serious instructions we need to edit Wikipedia are in unfunny pages like WP:NPOV and so on. For example, I've done a fair amount of editing on Wikipedia and until now I had never seen WP:FLAMEBOX. If you don't like those pages, it's easy to ignore them. --Teratornis (talk) 10:43, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Is there a reason to make this kind of content?--Mikespedia (talk) 10:58, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia is a community, communities like humour. As they are not in the main encyclopedia, and are labelled as humour, they do no harm. One of the basic principles is that humour can be educational, and can relieve stress - both of which help make editors enjoy their time on Wikipedia more, which in turn makes for better editors who will stay here. As Teratornis says, you don't need to read any of them, most of them are not easy to accidently reach. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 12:05, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It keeps us from getting bored and leaving the project, I guess. The argument that "humour is not encyclopedic" is not new. Editing wikipedia is not our job; most editors do it as a hobby. Once it becomes all formal and editing becomes less enjoyable, a lot of people wouldn't be here. So, the general idea is that as long as it's not excessive and doesn't distract us from our main objective (building an encyclopedia), there's no harm in it. ≈ Chamal ^talk ¤ 12:14, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Humor might not be encyclopedic but the Wikipedia: namespace is not a place for encyclopedic content anyway, that's what the article namespace is for. This very page is not encyclopedic after all nor is any other page in this namespace. Humor is fine as Chamal says, as long as we keep it away from casual readers who want to read an encyclopedia only :-) Regards So Why 12:24, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Also, satire has a long history of highlighting problems (at least, problems perceived by the writers of satire) in a culture (such as Wikipedia). I'd characterize something like that as a kind of "political speech" as opposed to a page like Wikipedia:Talk page stalker, which is just for fun. (And, in my opinion, valid for the reasons others have set out above.) Wikipedia:FLAMEBOX is clearly written with an intent to dissuade the use of boldly visible problem boxes at the tops of articles. --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 13:32, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Please include my short note on Mr. William A Howie

Dear Sir/Madam.

I want my article to submitted urgently. I have already created and have posted below. Please make it available in wikipedia.

Thanks Mr. William A Howie

date3rd Nov 1993 Mr. William A Howie's will (W.A.Howie)

Reference: His ONLY will declaration and other information related to him was discovered lately by me (anonymous chap from UK, Lakhimpur) Details: Name: Mr. William A Howie Nationality: British Wife: Jamini Children: Mary Euphemia and Alexander Norman Alexander Norman Howie Mr. A. N. Howie came to Bulsar(now Valsad) after completing his studies in Assam, West Bengal and bought a land to construct a villa which was named Laxmi Villa in Mission Colony, Valsad long time back. He named it so because he came from Lakhimpur, Assam, his birth place, which is derived from the word "Laxmi" (Lakshmi) so that he and his family members can commemorate his birth place and his late father Mr. William's tea gardens. It is written that the said property and parcel belongs to A.N.Howie. Only after his death the property goes to their children of first wife. If will found it will declare all the factoids of his property and ownership. Also it says that anyone encroaching upon it and trespassing it will be liable to lawsuit. Please take note of this to avoid unnecesary legal and other hassles. The writer of this is one of the fast friends of Alexander. I know him throughly and he was of British national as his elder was after quitting to UK and his father was already of British nationality. Much more to write but have to end here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Howieanthony (talk • contribs) 13:55, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our roughly three million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is a help desk for asking questions related to using the encyclopedia. Thus, we have no inside track on the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the left hand side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. TN X Man 13:56, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

From what I can understand, you wish to create an article about William Howie; you assert that you are a friend of his son Alexander; and your main interest is the legal ownership of his home as set out in a will. There are several potential problems with this, and I would strongly recommend you read Wikipedia:Your first article, Wikipedia:Notability and Wikipedia:Conflict of interest before you proceed further. Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia, not a bulletin board. Any article about Mr Howie must assert why he is notable enough to be included in an encyclopaedia, and this information must be verifiable and neutral in tone, which means that close friends or family members may not be the best people to write the article. Legal wrangling over inheritance will not be suitable material for an article unless the dispute is important enough to have had extensive independent media coverage, and anything controversial and unsourced will be removed very quickly. The material you posted above is not suitable to be a Wikipedia article as it stands, I'm afraid. Ka renjc 20:40, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Article transclusion guideline

The following query is related to a project talk page discussion: WT:USRD#Fragmented exit lists. The discussion is about how to maintain a table that contains information that is identical to two different articles. I suggested using WP:TRANS#Partial transclusion but this was discouraged as something that shouldn't be done with article content: "Content doesn't get transcluded." Neither I nor anyone else at the discussion could point to a guideline that weighs the advantages and disadvantages of transcluding article content, and the example page "Pathology" mentioned at WP:TRANS has been edited to remove transclusions and is no longer a valid example. Now that I think about it, I can see disadvantages to using content transclusion such as confusion for new editors, table breaking, having to watch one page to see changes that affect others, etc. Are there any guidelines or discussions that watchers of this page are aware of which I can refer to in constructing a usage guideline? Also, is there a procedure to use or place to go to initiate creation of a guideline page? Sswonk (talk) 14:10, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

New guidelines are typically written with a {{proposed}} at the top of them and, when ready, publicized at Wikipedia:Requests for comment/Wikipedia policies and guidelines and WP:VPP as well as other points of potential interest. There is more information on that at Wikipedia:Guidelines#Life_cycle. I myself have seen them started in userspace by a few interested contributors and moved to project space (with that proposed tag) when ready for wider review. I've also seen them just started in project space. --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 19:42, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Bad article on US demographics

Why does article on US Demographics include "Death to America" as its first sentence? Wikipedia should scan all of its articles for these types of word attacks. See below:

Demographics of the United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 (Redirected from Us population)

Jump to: navigation, search Death to the United States As of October 20th 2009, the United States has a total resident population of 308 million.[1] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.230.177.44 (talk) 15:29, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

That was a bit of vandalism, which I have now undone. Thanks for letting us know. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 15:44, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Finding the owner of a photo

How can I contact or find out who submitted a photo, so I can get a copy with permission.

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.236.106.152 (talk) 15:31, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If you click on the picture, you will be taken to a page which includes those details -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 15:41, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Need help with my reference section

I am having a hard time with my reference section. I added a few sources to my article Recess (break) in September, but the page still says "This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)" Are my sources incorrectly sited? Or do I need a few more? Help please :-) Thank you. (Smeshie (talk) 16:00, 1 November 2009 (UTC))[reply]

Three (admittedly quite anal) things about your question: 1) it's not your article, 2) the proper way to link to an article is [[Recess (break)]] and 3) the word is "cited", not "sited". Perhaps a reading of the tutorial is in order.

Now, on to the answer: "tags" such as the one you mention are added by someone, and can be removed by anyone else when it is determined the problem is fixed. Unfortunately, the article you mention only has two or three sources which do not cover the whole article, so the problem is not fixed yet and you probably shouldn't remove the tag. Ideally, a well sourced article would have plenty of reliable sources that are properly cited with inline references. Keep in mind that anything that is not cited can be challenged and removed on sight. Xenon54 / talk / 16:15, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

(e/c)The citations present are fine but the article needs more complete sourcing. I have changed the template from {{unreferenced}} to {{refimprove}}. Please take a look at some featured articles and you'll see that every sentence in most of them is cited. A recent example: Cosmo Gordon Lang. Note that lead section usually contains no citations, but the lead summarizes content already discussed in more detail in the text, which is cited.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 16:21, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

A question of listing and priority

When the word BARBIZON is mentioned, the thing that pops into everyones mind, and by far the most common use of the word, is in relation to the Barbizon School of Modeling. Yet when I search your site for BARBIZON all I get is some third rate definition of a city and school of painters. What gives with you people? The most COMMON usage of a word should be first on your 'hit list'.

Pls advise —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.252.186.60 (talk) 17:09, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I could answer your question in great detail but I choose not to because of your tone.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 17:21, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I've never heard of the school, so it doesn't pop into "everyone"'s mind. Perhaps it is well-known and deserves a place in Wikipedia. So far, no one has bothered to create an article for the place. You appear to know something about the place, perhaps you could write the article. This is a volunteer effort. You can be a volunteer. --SPhilbrick T 17:26, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It sounds like there needs to be a disambiguation page.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.111.55.254 (talk) 18:33, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I was familiar with the Barbizon school of painting, but didn't recall it was named after the town. We have never had an article on the Barbizon School of Modeling. If someone wants to start an article, go for it. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 22:04, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Incomplete list

What's the name of the template fro incomplete lists? --Yowuza yadderhouse |meh 20:11, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

There's {{dynamic list}}, and the documentation there mentions various others. Bencherlite ^Talk 20:30, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Deletion of old image revisions

Do we have a template tag or process for suggesting that a particular old revision of an image be deleted? {{Non-free reduced}} is not what I want. • Anakin ^(talk) 22:08, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

<html> <title>
document .write(var1) ~~document .write~~ document .write(var2) document .write(var3) document .write(var4) document .write("totle no of value in")

<

</title> </html>

I like to create an account...

But the account, yes4me, is already created. However I am not 100% sure if that's my old account or not. Maybe it is linked to an old email address too. How can I find out? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.18.195.27 (talk) 22:47, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The only way to tell is to put the username in the box at Special:Userlogin (but don't put in a password) and click "E-mail new password". If you have access to the old e-mail address and you get the e-mail, then it is probably your account, and you can change the password and begin editing. Xenon54 / talk / 22:52, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If that doesn't work, create an account under something else (a temporary name, possibly). Since Yes4me doesn't have any contributions, you can have Yes4me renamed to something else, so you can have your temporary username changed to Yes4me, since it has been freed up. You will have to go through the proper channels at WP:USURP. You will have to do this with a registered account though - you can't usurp a username as an anonymous IP address. —Akrabbim^talk 23:30, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yeti page not accessible

I tried to search for Yeti, I tried it in Internet Explorer 7.0.6000.16916 and in Firefox 3.0.15. On every occasion the browsers crashed instantly without showing anything of the page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.46.11.82 (talk) 23:42, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It works fine for me (Firefox 3.5.4, Windows XP). Both of those browsers you mention are out of date; the latest version of IE is 8, and the latest version of Firefox is 3.5.4. Try updating and see if that fixes the problem. Xenon54 / talk / 23:46, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

That's most peculiar. I tried it in Internet Explorer 6 and Firefox 2 and it appeared absolutely fine. The only odd thing about that page is the Tibetan script. Do your browsers crash if you view the page on Tibetan script? • Anakin ^(talk) 23:49, 1 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]