Help desk
< January 16	<< Dec \| January \| Feb >>	January 18 >

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.

January 17

I cant use my account

Each time I log in, the next page viewed suggests i'm logged out. I am instructed to edit as an anon. I cant even view my watchlist.

I just obtained Google Chrome. Is that responsible? 116.72.211.122 (talk) 17:20, 20 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Do we allow stolen pictures

Resolved

– At least on this page... – ukexpat (talk) 02:00, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Being discussed at WP:ANI##Stop user from stealing photos and putting them on Wikipedia. Please continue the discussion there. – ukexpat (talk) 01:56, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maurice_Clemmons.jpeg

This photo is stolen. No permission was given to use it. Is Wikipedia a gang of thieves. Stop this. Goldamania (talk) 00:15, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Why are you forum shopping this? ArcAngel (talk) (review) 00:44, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That image indicates that permission was logged via the OTRS system. If you think this was done in error post at meta:OTRS/review, listing the TicketID: 4140787. DES ^(talk) 00:38, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Two Questions On Editing

1)when someone edits and/or deletes a submission you have made, are they required to explain the reason why it was done?

2) If so, can you pls tell me where you can find the person who edited & the reason given?

Thank you

Digby scallops (talk) 01:26, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Optimally a person should explain each edit in the "Edit Summary". If you click the "History" tab at the top of the article you've been editing, you'll see the history of all edits to the article with the name of each editor, and hopefully with an edit summary. Hope this helpful. Truthkeeper88 (talk) 01:49, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you but here is a follow up question. I see the name of the person who deleted my submission. It says Curtis recanted it, but gives no source. How do i correspond with this person to learn the source & why is he/she permitted to delete a submission "which has a source cited" when none may be available from them to refute it?

24.85.210.208 (talk) 06:18, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

When you're looking at the history of that article, there should be a link that says "talk" next to each user name and IP address that edited the article. This is how you should communicate with that user, by hitting the talk link and posting a message on their talk page. You have a talk page as well where people can contact you. Your talk page is at User talk:Digby scallops. Dismas|^(talk) 06:53, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Citation help desk

Please can someone tell me what is the "citation help desk" I created 3 links to the Buddy Ryan article but 1 of the 3 does not work. Thanks in advance. Johndoeemail (talk) 01:59, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If clicking on the link produces an error such as "this page cannot be found", it's probably a dead link. ~A H 1^(TCU) 03:48, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There is nothing called the "citation help desk" but here at Wikipedia's help desk you can ask questions about everyting related to Wikipedia, including citations. Where is the link? Your account has no other edits since 2008 so I'm not sure what you refer to. A week ago an IP address made a large number of edits to Buddy Ryan and added many links but I haven't checked them all. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:58, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Y2.01K bug?

Hi. Does anyone have any idea how this occurred? I saved the edit only once, but I pressed Save page several times, although that usually results in an edit conflict with myself but did not that time. Also, I added the first edit at 00:01, but the time shown is 00:00, so that appears to be another bug. Thanks. ~A H 1^(TCU) 02:55, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This page is only for questions about using Wikipedia, not for general knowledge questions. South Bay (talk) 07:29, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Try asking at WP:VPT, thats where the techy people hang out. Nanonic (talk) 12:02, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

What exactly should decade history pages show?

I would think that decade pages would at least give a brief summary of whatever is described in the individual year pages. I can understand some decades have too much happening, but some I've seen don't include anything for a particular year (and that year was somewhat important). Is it an oversight or done on purpose? Tiailds (talk) 03:55, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If you see something obvious which is missing, feel free to add it yourself. If someone objects or removes it, invite them to the article talk page to discuss the matter. See Wikipedia:Be Bold and Wikipedia:BOLD, revert, discuss cycle for policies and guidelines on editing Wikipedia. Basically, the two principles are "If you see a problem, fix it" and "Don't fight with other users". If you can abide by these two rules, you will do well at Wikipedia. --Jayron32 04:15, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Question

Why my edit were changed? I have no comments on my edits, no message... do you can explain me why were deleted? Then I can make better contributions [[1]] Mexicanchencho (talk) 10:30, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, your edit was removed because you added commentary within an article's body, if you'd like to discuss improvements to articles the best place to post is the articles talk page by clicking on the "discussion" tab at the top of the article page, but please be aware however, this is not a place to post personal opinions but a place for editors to collaborate and discuss improvements to articles. Jeffrey Mall (talk • contribs) - 11:10, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Gloria Vanderbilt

Your home page is not clear on how to submit a comment. This is the first page that I can find to make a comment. re your article on GLORIA VANDERBILT -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Vanderbilt I have just read the book written by her. In your article, you say that she inherited her fortune from her father. In the book, she does not say this. She says when her father died, he was penniless -- he had spent all his trust money. One of her great-grandfathers had come into contact with a feminist of the day who had inspired him and he had opened trust funds in all his descendants names. So, the trust fund she inherited when she was 21 was a trust set up many years before and she did not inherit her father's money. Sorry, I don't have the book on hand, but your people should be able to get it. It is a book on her life from age seventeen to thirty. Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.246.152.87 (talk) 10:49, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

to suggest improvements, click on the "discussion" tab at the top of the article page – that leads to Talk:Gloria_Vanderbilt, which is the article's talk page. click on "new section" at the top of the talk page to start a new topic, or click on one of the "edit" links to add a comment to an existing thread. Sssoul (talk) 12:21, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

How does one report a vandal?

Correcting a vandalism lead me to check out the log for 96.48.226.38 (talk) and it is clear that this IP has a history of vandalism. How would this normally be reported, if at all? draeath (talk) 11:44, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

WP:AIV is where currently-active vandals can be reported after sufficient warnings on their talk pages. this user has only two warnings, from 2009, so you if you found more recent stuff, you might choose to leave a template warning on their talk page. you can find the warning templates here. and when you leave new messages/warnings on someone's talk page, please put them at the bottom. hope that helps Sssoul (talk) 12:14, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

But also bear in mind that IP addresses can changed and may be shared by different users, so we can't be sure that previous vandalism was done by the same person. In this case it would be inappropriate to report this IP address as there's only been one instance of vandalism in the past 9 days or so — it may be that person's first edit.--Beloved Freak 14:28, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Watchlist no longer showing articles

I was pruning my watchlist, pruned too much and had to do a copy and paste back into my watchlist to get the articles back (I was pruning talk pages but managed to delete everything above what I was pruning. It looks ok but doesn't show any articles or of course article talk pages. Any idea what I did wrong? Thanks. Dougweller (talk) 12:28, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know what you've done wrong and can't be of much help, but have you checked the individual articles to see if they saw "watch" on the top tab, or "unwatch"? Sorry I can't be more helpful... --Beloved Freak 14:30, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Doesn't look as though they do. But they are on my raw watchlist even if now marked unwatched. And are counted in the total number of articles displayed on my watchlist page. Dougweller (talk) 14:42, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You've inspired me. I looked at it again and it read 'articlename' {talk} {talk} because what I copied had (one) {talk} in it already - when you edit your watchlist you are shown what pages you've removed, and that shows that you've removed the talk page, ie it says 'article name {talk}, so adding that back to the raw list ended up with all the article names ending in {talk}, which the watchlist treated as the full name. Fixed now. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dougweller (talk • contribs) 14:57, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Biographical information

I would like to enter biographical information about a movie director who has worked both in the US and Finland. HOw do I do it? I find the Wikipedia instructions very daunting: in theory, all I need to to is to copy and paste the information! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.247.215.31 (talk) 15:13, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A Wizard is available to walk you through these steps. See the Article Wizard.

Thank you.

You will need to first register an account, which has many benefits, including the ability to create articles. Once you have registered, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.

Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.

If you still think an article is appropriate, see Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. An Article Wizard is available to walk you through creating an article, but you will need to create an account to use it. if you don't wish to do so, you can submit a proposal for an article at Articles for Creation. – ukexpat (talk) 16:56, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If the page is already created, you can edit the page without creating an account, but creating an account has many benefits. Make sure that when you are adding your information, you include a citation like <ref>Citation here</ref>. More on citing sources here. —MC10 (T•C•GB•L) 19:44, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It is almost certainly not true that all you need to do is copy and paste the information: copyright material is not allowed on Wikipedia except under certain very restricted conditions, and almost everything on the web is copyright. Even if you did find some relevant material which was explicitly stated to be released to the public domain, you are not recommended to copy and paste it, because it is unlikely to be written in a suitably neutral and encyclopaedic way. --ColinFine (talk) 21:37, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Comparing edit counts

I think I remember there being a toolserver tool that lets you compare another user's edits to your own (to see pages you've edited in common, etc.). Does anyone recall where it's located? rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 16:21, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Wikistalk and Intersect Contribs both do that, although I believe there's at least one more? -- Vary | (Talk) 16:32, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! Those are what I was looking for; not sure what the third one looks like. rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 16:39, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

new sinclair research indicates that robert de saint clair and eleanor de dreux may be the founders of the sinclair in scotland

My article is cited as having 11 issues; in reality it has five as some one has duplicated them. Would you please change this situation because it doesn't reflect the truth of my article assessment. Also I rewrote the article and when I sent it, it was earased! Does someone not want this article accepted?????????????????? I am printing this for my recordsWhitelightening (talk) 17:12, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It is not an encyclopedic article. At best it is a comment for a talk page. I have copied it to Talk:Clan_Sinclair#Origin_of_the_clan for you. Kittybrewster ☎ 17:45, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Chings Secret Soya sauce

The Chings Secret Soya sauce that i bought (In India) has in its label that it has CARAMEL COLOUR.

So does it mean that it was made from hydrolised soy protein? and Does consuming the sauce has health risks of Carcinogens?

Aruna G —Preceding unsigned comment added by G arunaa (talk • contribs) 18:09, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried the Reference desk? They may be able to help you. This page is just about editing and using Wikipedia. Regards, --Beloved Freak 18:11, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Also have a look at out article on Caramel color, apparently there are some nutters out there who think it's carcinogenic but no-one's ever come up with any proof (and if they did, coca-cola would go out of business very soon). Nanonic (talk) 18:24, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

My name (page) is already being used by someone esle. What do I do?

My name, Michael Gier, is already a page but for a different Michael Gier who is an Olympic champion. I am an entertianer. Do I add my information to the page already created? That means that both of us will be on the Michael Gier page correct?

What is the best way to do this to be respectful of the other Michael Gier?

Mcgier (talk) 20:28, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You must first prove that you are indeed notable, or the article will be sent to WP:AFD. If you are notable, and can prove that with reliable sources, create a page called Michael Gier (entertainer) (or something similar), and add a {{for}} template to Michael Gier like so: {{for|the entertainer|Michael Gier (entertainer)}}. —MC10 (T•C•GB•L) 20:35, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(e/c) You would use hatnotes to disambiuguate the two of you. However... you are strongly discouraged from creating pages about yourself. See Wikipedia:Autobiographies. Xenon54 / talk / 20:37, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This policy also applies I believe. ArcAngel (talk) (review) 21:48, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'm assuming that you are the Michael Gier with this CV? Looking at the articles Wikipedia has about the films you appeared in, none of them mention you (Torrance Rises (not Torrnace Dancers as shown on your CV), Lay It Down, Time Changer, Geronimo and Tap) and none of them appear to have your name on the posters shown in those articles. IMDB doesn't show you on the cast list for either Geronimo or Tap, incidently. I am also not sure that you meet Wikipedia's criteria for the notability of entertainers. If you can show (using independent, reliable sources) that you do indeed meet those criteria (and the Wikipedia General Notability criteria, then you could perhaps request that an article be written. -- PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ 08:20, 18 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Linking to Articles

... sorry: I think I don't get it. How do I link related articles to an "orphan" one? I printed the cheat-sheet, but it doesn't seem to tell me anything. Elke Huttoncorner (talk) 21:06, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

An orphan is an article with few incoming links (see What is an orphan?) so the way to fix it is to use the search function to find articles in which the title of the article appears and then edit those articles to create a link to the orphan. So, for example, if the article Joe Bloggs is an orphan, you would search for articles that contained "Joe Bloggs" and, assuming that those references are to the same Joe Bloggs as the orphan article, create links using this code: [[Joe Bloggs]]. Hope this helps. – ukexpat (talk) 21:16, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Rollback Request Requirements

Resolved

– Rollback granted by Tnxman307. ArcAngel (talk) (review) 21:50, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what the minimum requirements are to become a Rollbacker. I currently have:

Total edits (including deleted): 731
Deleted edits: 41
Live edits: 690

My active status can be seen here

Would it be worth me adding a request now or waiting a couple of months. Thanks Paul 2387 12:28, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

As long as you have a stable edit history (as you appear to have), it couldn't hurt to ask. :) I've seen editors with lesser stats be granted rollback rights. ArcAngel (talk) (review) 21:45, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've granted your request. Go forth and use your new powers wisely (for obvious vandalism only), for they can be removed as quickly as they have been given. TN X Man 21:47, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

What happened to all the thumbnails?

I've recently noticed that all animated GIFs are now completely broken. MediaWiki used to render smaller resampled versions of all images, and this was particularly good for animated GIFs. But all of sudden, the site is giving a direct link to the full size images, which are several times larger than the thumbs, and has to be rescaled by the browser. I have interpolation disabled in Opera, and it looks absolutely awful. What happened here? Are you guys trying to save space instead of bandwidth? — Kieff | Talk 22:30, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A post four days ago at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#Animated gif bug? said: "Werdna just disabled GIF scaling again, because no one who understands that code has time to fix it right now." PrimeHunter (talk) 23:13, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Breach of name suppression order

I have found a breach of a name suppression order on Wikipedia. A New Zealand court has given a certain defendant name suppression. This defendant's page on Wikipedia has the information buried in the history/discussion area. If I tell anyone which page it is, I will be revealing who the defendant is. A New Zealand blogger is currently before the court for allegedly publishing the name but I don't think anyone has noticed that the information is also on Wikipedia. My ISP doesn't seem to be interested. What should I do? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.93.44.30 (talk) 22:54, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Send an email with the details as described at Wikipedia:Requests for oversight. Algebraist 22:56, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]