Help desk
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January 12

Display stuck in text mode or print mode.

My display seems to be in text mode or print mode. How do I restore the display to the way it was in the beginning? —Preceding unsigned comment added by King JD De Armon (talk • contribs)

Thank you for your question. The help desk is for questions on how to use wikipedia, for assistance with your computer, you could try the Computing Reference Desk. Tiggerjay (talk) 04:03, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I guess the question is about the display of Wikipedia pages. Maybe you have changed skin under Appearance at Special:Preferences, or maybe you have to completely clear your cache. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:16, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I had the same problem yesterday (display of the simple text interface) coupled with general sluggishness. I put it down to server overload, seems to be OK so far today. – ukexpat (talk) 14:53, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

May be the same problem as this one: Wikipedia:VPT#Something odd happening with the interface. – ukexpat (talk) 14:55, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A connection issue can cause the skins to not load. That would give you a text only display with the sidebar text stacked up. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 18:01, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It's on wikipedia's end... the BITS server Orbframe (talk) 01:08, 13 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've got the same problem. Mike M 01:24, 13 January 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 38.98.183.218 (talk)

See WP:VPT#Rendering issue?. – ukexpat (talk) 01:33, 13 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Regarding Food and Agriculture data

Dear Sir, I am a food technologist. I want to contribute for the content of food and agriculture but in an organised way. e.g. I have collected a data of Spices in 33 languages. I want to share it. There is a lot of things in the area of food technology where I an contribute. How should I do in an organised manner? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gautambhut (talk • contribs) 04:45, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Where has your data been published before Wikipedia? One of Wikipedia's cornerstone policies is verifiability which requires that information that appears at Wikipedia be published in reliable sources (sources with editorial control or peer review) before it can appear at Wikipedia. If your information is merely original research, then Wikipedia cannot be the first place it is published. What is the nature of the data you have? --Jayron32 04:53, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe you should consider participating in the agriculture project at WP:AGRICULTURE and the food project at WP:FOOD. – ukexpat (talk) 14:59, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

problem submitting completed article-

I have tried on numerous occasions to submit my article (click 'review page' then 'save page'- is this correct; it's the only information I can find) but when I comne back to Wikipedia and search for my title 'Ted Noffs' it isn't accessible. Is there some problem with 'Username:MacNeice'? On the user page this is in the title area- I would have thought though that that would be automatically rectified as it's a Wikipedia feature.... this is the only thing I can come up with as a possible problem... Please help- it's driving me nuts. I have searched the help pages over and over... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.42.30.44 (talk) 04:56, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You are not currently logged in. Perhaps the problem is that you need to log in to your account first! --Jayron32 04:59, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The article appears as a sandbox page for User:Macneice and can be found at User:Macneice/Ted Noffs. Note the spellling of "Macneice". The search function on WP is case sensitive. Having taken a quick look at the page, may I suggest you reconsider moving the page to main space until the puffery is first toned down considerably? There is an article already on the Wayside Chapel where Noffs's principal work is noted. ~~Does the individual need a separate article?~~ Bielle (talk) 15:50, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I did some work on the opening paragraph. If the publishing can be properly sourced, then the person likely meets WP:Notable. The facts of the article in the pargraphs succeeding the opening two are in list form and need both to be incorporated into the text and properly sourced. Bielle (talk) 16:34, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

ver sacrum

Please excuse my ignorance, I am not yet quite able at creating external links. I tried to put a link to this article but it does not work. Apparently I did not follow the right procedure. thank you for your help.Aldrasto (talk) 06:04, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The section was hidden, I have made it visible.--Commander Keane (talk) 06:44, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

But the link appears to be broken or malformed. – ukexpat (talk) 14:59, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I guess you refer to a link you attempted to add in [1] but there is no such address. Which link do you wish to add? You can copy it from your browser address bar to here without formatting it. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:18, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Textile auxiliaries

Hi,

I m a textile manufacturer having my factory in India. I want to manufacture alkali doner. where should I search for knowhow of the same. Pl let me know the details at the earliest.

Thanks & regards,

Sanjay Chauhan. Chauhansanjay2511 (talk) 06:45, 12 January 2010 (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. Gonzonoir (talk) 07:28, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Please kindly change the website address of my company's.

Dear Sir/ Madam,

I work for Jiffy and during my research for my company's information, I have have come acrossed the following website:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiffy_(Convenience_store)

On the website, the indication of my company's website is wrong. Please kindly change the website from www.jet.co.th to be www.pttrm.com

Your support would be greatly appreciated indeed.

Sureerat Vilaijareontrakul Retail Productivity Integrator PTT Retail Management Company Limited <e-mail address removed> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.97.30.2 (talk) 07:41, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Done Calmer Waters 08:27, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Please do not include contact details in your questions. We are unable to provide answers by any off-wiki medium and this page is highly visible across the internet. The details have been removed, but if you wish for them to be permanently removed from the page history, email this address. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 08:55, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Article name

There has been an article created at Mexicans, but I would like to move it to 'Mexican people'. When I do, I find that the name I want to move it to (Mexican people) already exists. I think over time Demographics of Mexico, etc. has used the page as a redirect (?). I have no idea how to fix all of this and rename the page to the correct sounding 'Mexican people' (just as 'Italian people', 'Colombian people', etc.) Is it possible, or not going to happen? Any help would be appreciated. C.Kent87 (talk) 08:17, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe deletion is key. South Bay (talk) 08:22, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm, didn't think of that...? Its a tangled mess, but something has to work. Maybe I'll try that. Thanks. C.Kent87 (talk) 08:41, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

What if someone won't discuss?

What is the correct process to follow if someone keeps making a particular edit, and simply will not take part in any discussion or provide any response to requests for a source? See User:Ashrf1979's edits at Bahrani people, and previously at Nebuchadnezzar II. (I am not affiliated with IP user 94.192.38.247 who has also reverted User:Ashrf1979's edits for the same reason.) I have requested that the user provide a source at User_talk:Ashrf1979#Nebuchadnezzar_II, Talk:Bahrani_people#Nebuchadnezzar, and in edit summaries.--Jeffro77 (talk) 08:38, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If all else fails, a report to WP:ANI is probably appropriate. – ukexpat (talk) 14:49, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Linking other Wikis

Hello, I was reading the article about the German goalkeeper, Oliver Kahn, and I saw this link in that article Rolf Kahn. Which you can see is a link to the article about Rolf Kahn on the German Wiki. Is that OK to do that? I wonder because I have found some "red-ink" links in other articles which could be made into "blue-ink" links by cross-referencing like that to German Wiki. And I could do that as I dont really have anything else to do here on Wikipedia as my English isnt so good to write articles. Thanks. User 23.2 (talk) 10:20, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

According to Help:Interlanguage_links#Inline_interlanguage_links it is allowed in articles that are primarily about topics specific to a certain language. I wouldn't plaster them all over the Encyclopedia though :D —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 12:37, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

OK. I understand. Thanks. User 23.2 (talk) 15:48, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Removing pictures

Is there any particular way to go about removing pictures from an article (rather than just deleting them without anyone's input)? The problem is that a picture I'm in has been used. I didn't take the picture, so I'm assuming all the permissions are okay, but I don't want to be on wikipedia. And I especially don't want to be identified with the page I'm on. It could damage my career. A friend has already seen and recognised me, I don't need my boss to. 87.65.91.57 (talk) 11:22, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Please send an email as detailed in the following page Wikipedia:Contact_us/Article_problem/Factual_error_(from_subject). Say that you are recognizable in an image and that you do not want to be (these are your "personality rights"). Be sure to include links to the page and the image. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 12:33, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Citing the results of a web site's internal search engine

Resolved

The Welsh Music Information Centre has a number of profiles of Welsh composers, accessible through a search page here. Unfortunately, the web address that is generated when you've selected a composer, e.g. Guto Puw, can't be used for citation purposes as it returns a blank page if you've not gone through the search page (example). Any suggestions on how I can cite Puw's page in a way that will stop the article failing its GA review? Bencherlite ^Talk 12:40, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

http://wmic.org/cgi-bin/composerfull.cgi?id=368 The id numbers of the composers can be found by going to http://wmic.org/composers.html and choosing "View page source" from the menu in your browsers. Once you have that, you'll see that the form on that page opens up http://wmic.org/cgi-bin/composerfull.cgi by adding the name= or id= fields of the form to that url after a ? you can always find urls for any GET forms (not for POST forms however) with this method. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 12:53, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

http://wmic.org/cgi-bin/composerfull.cgi?id=368 gives me the list of works of Kevin Adams, so I think you meant http://wmic.org/cgi-bin/composerfull.cgi?id=5 - thanks for your help. Bencherlite ^Talk 13:14, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Family history question

My grandparents emigrated from Slovakia in the late 1890's or early 1900 orignially landing at Ellis Island but eventually ended living in Thunder Bay Ontario Canada. They were not married during their immigration. My grandfather was a tradesman, a machinist,was hired to go to directly to Thunder Bay for employment. His name was John Shelling. He asked my future grandmother to come to Thunder Bay to marry him and she did, however she did live in New York for an undetermined period of time. Her maiden name best to my knowledge was phontecially sounding like Hi duke (hyduk?). I am trying to find a geaological search for both of them to determine when the emigared, from where in Slovakia, and other relevant information about their background and an attempt to find linking family members. My grandfather's brother also came about the same time to Canada and his name was Ignace Shelling and I assume he came from the same aread of Slovakia. Is there any European English websites or Canadian websites that I can use to find information about my grandparents geneology on both sides. I would appreciate any assistance you can give me, or any directions you can advise me to follow. Thank you very much —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.241.217.231 (talk) 13:02, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer just about any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 13:49, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

For what it's worth, the spelling might turn out to be "Hajduk". Gonzonoir (talk) 14:14, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Need help in adding photos to the Delft Dragons article

I am a registered user of Wikipedia, and I have several photos that I would like to add to the Delft Dragons page, that come from my Wikimedia Commons page. However, I have no clue how to transfer or even add them on the edit section. I've tried looking up the instructions on the help section, but it was just too complicated and I am still at a loss.

If you can please assist me with this matter, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you.

-Jerrold Icban —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jaicban (talk • contribs) 13:52, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Did you take a look at WP:IMAGE#Using images? The basic formatting for a thumbnail is [[File:filename.ext|thumb|caption]]. – ukexpat (talk) 14:47, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

How do I publish my page?

Resolved

– Spammy user page deleted, user name spamblocked. – ukexpat (talk) 15:32, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I would like to know how I can publish my page so that it is searchable on the web? 2190 MUSIC GROUP 14:52, 12 January 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 2190music (talk • contribs)

Please see Wikipedia:Your first article, but also note that articles must be verifiable and about subjectes that meet the notability guidelines. It is also very strongly discouraged to write about subjects that you are involved with personally. (See Wikipedia:Autobiography). --Beloved Freak 15:03, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If you mean the contents of your user page at User:2190music, you don't. Apart from the huge conflict of interest and a username that is in breach of policy, the text is purely promotional and there is no indication that the company meets Wikipedia's inclusion criteria. – ukexpat (talk) 15:04, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I am an author

I am an author and I would like to describe my work, which is socially relevant fantasy, on a page on Wikipedia. I was told by some other authors that it is a great thing to get set up on Wikipedia. Is there a book specific place for authors, and if not what is the best way for me to adhere to the rules and still have my book displayed and explained to my potential readers.

Thank you for your assistance,

Jeffrey B. Allen —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jeffrey B. Allen (talk • contribs) 15:14, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

http://www.fanfiction.net Accdude92 (talk to me!) (sign) 15:17, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia's not a forum for getting your work known. It's an encyclopaedia of things that have already received significant coverage in reliable sources. Also, you are very strongly discouraged to write about yourself or subjects that you are involved with (see WP:AUTOBIOGRAPHY). --Beloved Freak 15:24, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

math

how do I do math in wikipedia markup?Accdude92 (talk to me!) (sign) 15:28, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Does WP:MOSMATH help? – ukexpat (talk) 15:30, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

For the markup, see Help:Displaying a formula. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:11, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Image Content/Photographs

My comments relate to the images used on Wikipedia's webpages. If this has been sent to the wrong party, please direct to the person in charge of oversight of image photos. I am concerned with the use of images on your webpages that contain nudity. Case in point, the "Josephine Baker" page. I would like to see nude images removed from the pages because, of several reasons, I am using a computer in a public library and it is an offense to download it (even if I have no idea what I am downloading) and because of the nature of the website--an online encyclopedia--which allows for this kind of situation, the inadvertent downloading of nude images. It is not just the "Baker" page, but all pages that would have these types of images. Thank you for your attention to this matter. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.196.20.111 (talk) 16:46, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Please see WP:NOTCENSORED. However, Wikipedia:Options to not see an image might help you. —Jeremy (talk) 16:51, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'm afraid that the only way that you can guarantee that you do not come across any articles which contain any nude figures is to avoid using Wikipedia altogether. The options to avoid seeing images are probably not available at a public library. However, you could discuss it with the library staff - if they see that you are using Wikipedia, they may be OK with the images. I know that my local library staff have no problems with such things - if you look through your library's art section, you will see books with pictures of nudes and nude statues. If the staff object to you seeing such pictures, have one of those around, and ask why they don't get rid of those books?! -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 17:53, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Current time in time zone articles

Resolved

– – ukexpat (talk) 03:19, 13 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I was wondering, would it be appropriate to have a current time measurement such as the {{{{current time}} template in the various time zone articles? I think that would be useful for them. It doesn't seem to be done for any of them at the moment, however, is there some reason for that that I'm overlooking? TastyCakes (talk) 17:38, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

In theory this wouldn't be hard to add (using {{CurrentTimeIn}}), but it might be an idea to discuss this at Talk:Time zone, Category_talk:Time_zones or probably at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Time - I think the latter would be the best place to discuss this. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 18:01, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, I'll go and ask there. TastyCakes (talk) 18:23, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

santa clause

hey im doing a report on Santa clause, or Kris Kringle and i cant find anything on the very beginning of Santa clause, like where he was born and stuff. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Noodlehead117 (talk • contribs) 17:46, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You might find what you are looking for in the articles about Santa Claus, Father Christmas or Christkind. 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 we cannot do your homework for you. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 17:50, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

i tried those pages but its nowhere past when people thoght of him to bring presents, i want the original story, like in the movie santa clause is comeing to town, ill try what you said, and i wont make you do the homework for me lol. noodlehead117 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Noodlehead117 (talk • contribs) 17:55, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Well, as Santa Claus is a made up character, they weren't "born". The information about the origins of the stories are in those three articles, but if you want to ask this question at the Research Desk, they may be able to help you. This page is for asking questions about how to use Wikipedia, not for information about subjects. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 18:03, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I like the name "research desk". That's the only place on Wikipedia where original research is cherished. ;-) — Sebastian 19:45, 12 January 2010 (UTC) [reply]

why do you remove every post I have created?

I created several posts documenting true and valid historical events, such as the creation of the Spritual United Nations in 1994. I also added and updated several posts, that were removed the very next day with no explanation. I am going to blow the lid off your so-called validity as a site that documents information from many sources. I will replace you with the college of synthesis, that giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not. You are a very prejudiced and narrow minded group of people, as I have documented proof of how many times you removed valid information. thanks for blabbing about your lack of bias. Is is an outright lie! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.112.228.180 (talk) 18:04, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Please read WP:verifiability —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 18:16, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You might also want to read about independent and reliable sources of information - if you have any to back up the information which you are trying to add, then the information will be kept. If you are trying to add unsourced information, then it will be removed. Good luck with your college of synthesis! -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 19:03, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Move

Resolved

– Mysdaao ^talk 20:08, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hi guys, there's a page I would like to move but it doesn't seem to work. Is this because it is new? The page is here. Thank you in advance. Rock drum (talk·contribs·guestbook) 18:19, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You have the ability to move pages because you are autoconfirmed, which happened automatically once your account was at least four days old and made at least ten edits. From your move log, I see you already moved a page, so you have access to moving other pages. What are you trying to move CHERUB and Henderson's Boys Timeline to? What is the message you see when you try to move it? --Mysdaao ^talk 18:58, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, I was planning to move it to 'Chronology of the CHERUB and Henderson's Boy's series'. Rock drum (talk·contribs·guestbook) 19:08, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

And why is it not working? What message are you seeing when you try to move it to the new title? --Mysdaao ^talk 19:13, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

On the BETA version of wikipedia there is a down arrow at the top of every page. This will normally show a link to the 'move' page. It doesn't show this link. Rock drum (talk·contribs·guestbook) 19:29, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I see the Move link in that menu when viewing CHERUB and Henderson's Boys Timeline on the Beta. Do you see the Move link on other pages? This may be a bug with Beta and you can report it by pressing "Beta feedback" on the top. If you can't move it in Beta, try it with the regular Wikipedia skin. --Mysdaao ^talk 19:37, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Will do. Rock drum (talk·contribs·guestbook) 19:42, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Will do. Rock drum (talk·contribs·guestbook) 19:43, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Is there an echo in here? -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 19:47, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I think so, I think so, _{I think so,} _{I think so... – ukexpat (talk) 19:52, 12 January 2010 (UTC)}[reply]

Sorry. Thanks for the help Mysdaao. Rock drum (talk·contribs·guestbook) 19:58, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You're welcome. --Mysdaao ^talk 20:08, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Conflict sorting books

Resolved

– Mysdaao ^talk 13:46, 13 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Please help When looking through Category:Wikipedia books (community books), I noticed that several entries were out of alphabetical order due to capitalization issues (e.g. Book:BBC Sports Personality of the Year came before Book:Bahá'í Faith.) To remedy this, I inserted some {{DEFAULTSORT}}s, but this apparently creates a conflict, adding these books to Category:Pages with DEFAULTSORT conflicts. Looking over them, I cannot figure out where or how there is another sortkey. Can someone fix this matter? —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 19:01, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There is a DEFAULTSORT in {{saved book}} which is on every book page. The code in Template:Saved book contains {{DEFAULTSORT:{{SUBPAGENAME}}}} so all pages with the template are automatically sorted by the subpage part of the title. This could be fixed by removing that part of the code, but that would mess up the sorting of a whole lot of book pages, so I don't think there's any good way to sort way a single book page differently. --Mysdaao ^talk 19:11, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Resolved Someone else removed the DEFAULTSORT, which is simply necessary for the reason I outlined above, as well as (e.g.) Book:AC/DC, which was sorted as "DC". —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 01:56, 13 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

RecentChangesLinked: duration more than 30 days?

Moved to WP:VPT § RecentChangesLinked: duration more than 30 days?

Is it possible to check Related changes for a duration of more than 30 days? I changed the "days" parameter in the URL for several pages, such as this one http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChangesLinked&limit=250&days=100&target=WIMPs, but I never get beyond 30 days. The only change - as if to spite me - is that the page now displays a bold "100 days" option. — Sebastian 19:21, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I am not aware of a way to do this, but you might be better off asking at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical) where the folks there may know more about the technical aspects of Wikipedia -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 22:12, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Good idea, I'll try that! — Sebastian 02:17, 13 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Message that seemed to disappear

Hello,

I was using Wikipedia a few days ago, and the banner appeared saying that I had a message. I clicked and found a notice that I was invited to participate in a discussion or voting on something. I was busy, and planned to come back to it.

Now, I can't find it. I assumed it was on my talk page, but I don't see it. Am I looking in the wrong place? Everything I search for in Help refers to message templates, I can't find anything on "Messages" in general.

Thank you!

Peacedance (talk) 19:27, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It appears you only got one message in the last week, which was User talk:Peacedance#Caroline Matilda of Great Britain. Is that the one? — Sebastian 19:36, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict)I'm guessing you are referring to the message about voting on the "Global Sysop" issue, which was a site-wide banner which is no longer showing. The vote in question is here. However, as one of the criteria for voting is to have 150 edits on one project (and you have 63 here and 10 on commons) then you do not qualify at the moment (incidently, the other criteria is to have had an account for 3 months or more, and yesterday was your 3rd month anniversary!) -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 19:37, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

African Americans

This article is no longer valid since anthropologists have provided DNA evidence that all humans on the planet originated from sub-Saharan Africa. In other words all Americans are African Americans.

The article starts "African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans) are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa." So you can see my dilemma. The only information I have is from the BBC TV Documentary series "The Incredible Human Journey" presented by Dr Alice Roberts.

Whilst the article could be deleted in entirety I would imagine the original authors would like the opportunity to revisit their work and change the main name and definition.

Your guidance would be appreciated.Rexhorwood (talk) 20:34, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your suggestion regarding the African American article. May I suggest that it might be best to bring this up on the article's talk page, where interested editors would be able to comment on this issue, and where a decision can be reached should it be required. Regards, -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 21:03, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Complaint about user 'doctorfluffy'

I would like to file a complaint about user 'doctorfluffy'. Move to his site under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Doctorfluffy and you will se an endless list of deletions and deletion requests. This, and as well probably other users feeling more like 'Deletion Masters' then users or admins, should be removed from the possibility to delete articles.

Kind Regards, —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.106.95.168 (talk) 20:34, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for you comments, anonymous editor! However, the fact that Doctorfluffy has a list of the deletions which they have proposed or deleted is not against the policies on this site. Indeed, I have a similar list at User:Phantomsteve/Editor/Deletions. I believe it is a sign of the openness of some editors here that we are willing to show the articles which we have proposed for deletion, and the end result. Not all of the deletions were upheld by the admins (as you are probably aware, only admins can actually delete pages), but the mere proposing of the deletion is 100% in line with policy here, and displaying the results is definitely not against the policies or guidelines. I am guessing that some of the ones which have been nominated for deletion include some of the articles which you have created. If this is so, then I am sorry, but articles need to meet Wikipedia's notability and verifiability criteria, and if they do not then they can be deleted. If you feel that a specific article should not have been deleted, then you would need to contact the deleting admin (Doctorfluffy isn't an admin, so has not deleted anything) and ask them about it. To find out the deleting admin, go to Special:Log/delete and type in the article title in the Title field and click Go - this will show who deleted it, along with a link to their talk page, where you can politely ask about the reason for deletion. I hope this helps -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 21:13, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Block yourself from editing without logging in?

When editing an article, I sometimes become logged out for some reason, for example, I closed my browser. Then I forget to log in again and inadvertently expose my IP address to the world on the next edit. (And based on editing patterns, it's pretty obvious whose it is.) Surely, it is everyone's job to make sure they are logged in, but when making a lot of edits one can become distracted.

Is there a way to block yourself from editing without being logged in? Thanks. Khin2718 (talk) 21:22, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not aware of a way of doing this (although if there is a way, I'm sure someone here will let me know that I am wrong!) - I do have a way for you to know that you are not logged in when you go to save: edit your monobook.css file (I assume that's the skin you are using, as it's the default one) and add this to it:

/* Turn the "Save page" button green if I'm logged in */

INPUT#wpSave {

background-color:#88ff88;

Then save and bypass your cache as shown on the monobook.css page. In future, if you are logged in, the "save" button will be green - if it's not green, you know you are not logged in!

Hope this helps. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 21:42, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

VERY good suggestion. Thanks!! Khin2718 (talk) 03:18, 13 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This may or may not be helpful, but I was also getting caught in this way. Now I have my Wikipedia favourite set to point to the login page. If I fail to log in after that, it's my own fault. Jan1naD ^{(talk • contrib)} 22:22, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

View

Is there a way of making it so that when you are viewing a page and it gets edited, you get to see the changes straight away instead of having to refresh the page? jc iindyysgvxc (my contributions) 21:53, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately, I am not aware of anything like this on Wikipedia. Also, if you were to be looking at a long article, and half way through reading it, it re-loaded, I think you'd get a bit fed up! And if it was one that was being heavily edited, and it happened every 20 seconds, I think you'd not want this feature! However, as I said, this isn't possible as far as I am aware. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 22:10, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe someday the underlying software will be changed to use Ajax techniques, which would support unobtrusive indication that text you are viewing had just been changed. Then you could press a key to see the changed text. Someday. David spector (talk) 03:50, 13 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]
- That would require polling however. How often would you check for changes ? How many requests a minute would that add to the total ? Wikipedia would require a LOT more servers to support such a thing. No, this would require HTML 5 Server-Sent Events, and that is still in it's infancy. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 20:39, 13 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]
What might be an interesting twist is instead of actually updating the content, rather change the [edit] link on the appropriate to the color red indicating that someone is current (or recently) initiated an edit on that specific section. It may help out with edit conflicts. Then again, it's not entirely accurate since an automated bot could very quickly make edits, along with a user who clicks to edit, but never actually submits the changes. Tiggerjay (talk) 20:24, 13 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"Next--Live!"

Hello,

Misplaced enquiry

Could you please forward this "Next--Live!" invitation to Mr. Jimmy Johnson, the coach? I would appreciate it very much.

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   of  an honored U.S. marine Sgt. She is also a college graduate with a B.S. degree in Business Management and Administration, a high school honor student graduate as class valedictorian, a two time Who’s Who in Music Award recipient and a proud single Creole French, German, Italian and  White American woman.

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Our recipient’s life and career came to a sudden halt when diaganosed with an extremely rare medical condition. It requires a very rare surgical procedure by foreign medical specialists. However, due to credit abuses, the hospital is forced to charge on a “cash on;y” basis for doctor’s fees

They will,however, approve the health insurance claim forms for reimbursement from the health insurance company. The money will then be used for recovery expenses and medical taxes.

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  <removed contact information>

OR

You may wire your gift contribution via Western Union using a major credit card. Simply select which credit card you would like to use for your tax deductible gift contribution: Visa, Mastercard or Discover. <removed contact information> Tell the attendant you would like to wire your gift to :

         R. McLaine in Schaumburg, Illinois USA. Don’t forget to email
         a message to : <removed contact information>including your name, address, 
         phone number and the amount you wired.

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—Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.107.77.21 (talk) 22:05, 12 January 2010 (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. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 22:08, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Is there a "favorites" option?

In length, is it possible to save a Wikipedia page in a "favorites" list or some other way to quickly save an article for later viewing? This would be very helpful.

Jjoel0724 (talk) 22:17, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You can use your watchlist for this purpose. See the tab at the top of the screen titled "my watchlist" or read Help:Watching pages for more info. --Jayron32 22:21, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(e/c) There is no Wikipedia-based favorites function; the closest equivalent would probably be your watchlist or the book function. You could always create a "Wikipedia" folder in your browser's favorites and save interesting articles there. Xenon54 / talk / 22:22, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict)You can obviously add a page to your browser favourites list, but I'm guessing that isn't the answer that you are looking for! The easiest way would be to edit your user page and leave a link to the page. To do this, type [[Article-name]] and save the page. For example, to link to William Stanley (Victorian inventor), you would use the code [[William Stanley (Victorian inventor)]]. I hope this helps -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 22:24, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

How to get Organization added.

We would like to get our organization added to wikipedia. Wanted to know do I just add the organization name and description here [2] with a few links? So that an editor would review it and add the content. Or is it another process? Very confused, please explain. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JerryLouis (talk • contribs) 22:34, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Requested articles would be the best way to go - but rather than just links, it would be useful if you could provide evidence of notability (especially notability for an organisation) from independent, reliable sources. For inclusion on Wikipedia, an organisation needs to be shown to be notable (as Wikipedia defines it), with verifiable information from independent, reliable sources. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 22:54, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict) Writing about or editing articles with which you are affiliated with the subject thereof is strongly discouraged to prevent a conflict of interest. If your business/organization reaches Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion feel free to add your company to Wikipedia:Requested_articles/Business_and_Economics/Businesses_and_Organizations and an article that complies with Wikipedia's quality standards will be created for you. Jeffrey Mall (talk • contribs) - 22:59, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Use of Russian language in English Wikipedia

The article titled 'Koenigs formula' is written in Russian. Is it common for an article in the English Wikipedia to be written in a language other than English? —Preceding unsigned comment added by ImJustAsking (talk • contribs) 23:30, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

As far as I can tell, there is no page at the title you mention. Obviously, since this is the English Wikipedia, all articles must be written in English, but not being written in English alone is not a criterion for deletion. However, if the text is incoherent in the foreign language, or it is a direct copy of an article from a foreign Wikipedia, then it can be deleted. Xenon54 / talk / 23:54, 12 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The only article I can think that you are refering to is Formula König - however, that is written in English (and if it hadn't been, it would be in German). If you find the article, copy the web address and paste it here, we can be of more help. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 00:00, 13 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A lot of times, when articles are in foreign languages, they are in userspace. When it's translated into english, it can be moved to mainspace.174.3.101.61 (talk) 00:39, 13 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]