Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 August 20

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August 20

Watchlist problems

I always keep "loosing" pages from my watchlist... I noticed this because when I visit some page I was supposed to be watching, I see the button "watch" enabled... at first I just thought "hey, I thought I had you already in my watchlist!", but now it is obvious since i have already done this many times in pages like my userpage, for example... Is this some bug of the wiki software? SF007 (talk) 01:38, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Can you give us the name of a specific article you were watching which spontaneously left your watchlist? We can also: Search Help desk for: watchlist pages disappearing, and that reminds me of this previous Help desk question:

• Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 January 25#Rogue additions to my watchlist?

which doesn't sound exactly like what you are reporting, but it points out that vandal page moves to pages you are watching can do weird things to your watchlist. --Teratornis (talk) 04:44, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

The most obvious case is my userpage: [1], wich I remember adding to my watchlist several times... and I had no page-move vandalism, as far as I know... SF007 (talk) 18:17, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

When editing a page, there is a box titled "Watch this page" below the edit summary box. I have occasionally clicked it by mistake and removed the checkmark when I should have clicked something else near it. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:05, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

I can't say for sure that it is not my case, but I seriously doubt it... SF007 (talk) 23:28, 22 August 2008 (UTC)

user name regrets, regrets!

After reading your "read firsts" I am opting to ask a question about how to use this site with a slightly different user name. Is it even remotely possible to change my user name? *Sorry for the error. I withdraw my question.

—Preceding unsigned comment added by MessyB (talk • contribs) 03:34, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Hello - does that mean you don't want to change your user name any more? I don't really understand. Anyway, if you do, yes it is possible. Have a look at Wikipedia:Username policy#Changing your username.--BelovedFreak 09:07, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

question papers

Can i get soft copy of question papers for study at home for prctice purpose —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.158.61.142 (talk) 07:22, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over two million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the online free 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 that is not fruitful, we have a reference desk, divided into various subjects areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. —teb728 t c 07:44, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Administration

Is there a way of checking the bonafides of Administrators, such as a current list of same.Jagra (talk) 07:47, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

If you're looking for a list of current administrators, this can be found here. —— RyanLupin • (talk) 07:55, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Alternatively search for the person's username at Special:ListUsers. If they're an administrator they'll have "(administrator)" after their name like so. _Gb^T/c 07:56, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

(ec) This is an automatically-generated list of all administrators on Wikipedia. Bencherlite^Talk 07:58, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Thank you all for the speedy response. Jagra (talk) 08:04, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Adding a protected organization logo to an article

I want to know how to add the logo of the organization i am working-for to an article in Wikipedia with protecting it like other pages i have browsed lately i tried help topics but it could not help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Osamadakhil (talk • contribs) 08:00, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Please define "protecting". Before you edit an article about your employer, please see Wikipedia:FAQ/Business. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 12:46, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

al-Qaeda has a logo now? I think you just have to do a few more edits and wait a few days - usernames used to be able to edit protected articles after four days, but I think that now it is four days and ten edits. 199.125.109.43 (talk) 21:43, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

page

how can i make an article? when I try it in it goes to the search page. is there a form? Captain picard's bald head (talk) 10:17, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Read the Wikipedia:Your first article page. Thanks Monster Under Your Bed ^(talk) 10:13, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. i have my article in a wordpad file but when i type yhe title into to of the page i want i get to the search page and it only lists pages existing already. where do i go to create the page? Captain picard's bald head (talk) 10:17, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Type the title of the page you want to create in the search box on the left and press go. You will then see the message No article title matches, then click on "create the page" which is in red. Then you can paste your text and then press save page at the bottom. Remember to make sure you actually need to create the article instead you may need to just add it to existing articles on your topic. Hope this helps Monster Under Your Bed ^(talk) 10:30, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

And please read WP:YFA. - ukexpat (talk) 20:37, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

using images from another website

Hi! I'm new at Wikipedia and have read the copyright guidelines on images but they are quite tedious, understandably, because Wiki has to protect its standing. I just want to find out how to ask a website to give me permission to use a picture from their page. The site is covered by copyright laws. I've gone through the guidelines but I may have missed out or am simply confused. Sorry and thank you! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Padawanlearner (talk • contribs) 10:36, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Did you find Wikipedia:Requesting copyright permission? Algebraist 10:41, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Twinkle ... speedy rename category

How do I use twinkle to speedy rename a category? Kittybrewster ☎ 11:35, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

You can't rename a category per se: you create a new category. You can then use AWB to go through the list of articles in the old category and do a search and replace to change the category link to the new name. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 12:52, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Leading space formatting

Hi there- Is there an easy, painless way to format text in the leading space style, but have it justified to the text inside the box? I.e., as opposed to the entire width of the page.

For example,

The end of this box is far away.

Thanks, --Blehfu (talk) 14:28, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

This isn't autojustified, but it is the right length.

Algebraist 14:34, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Robert Marsden

I wrote an article on the British actor Robert Marsden, one of the first articles I have actually initiated. It has now been on the internet for a while headed by an editor's suggestion that it be deleted, on grounds of non-notability and lack of source references. It is based on a large amount of material, some online (such as the subject's obituaries from The Times and from The Stage), some consisting of theatre programmes and radio and TV programme papers, of which I have collections. Concentrating on books, I supplied references to Who's Who In The Theatre, and other publications of which I have copies. I am afraid I cannot figure out how to 'hide' the numbered references Wikipedia-style, but have put a list at the foot of the article. As to notability, only the content can answer that. The subject's career seems to me exactly comparable in that way with those of - say - Gabriel Woolf and John Westbrook, selecting other British actors whose work I also know well, and to whose Wikipedia articles I have contributed - all three actors having been dramatic recitalists. I would like to be clearer about what happens next as to the proposed deletion. Still finding my way in Wikipedia, I am grateful for any guidance. Rogersansom (talk) 15:23, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

It no longer appears that this article is proposed for deletion. Once the proposed deletion tag has been removed, it can't be put back. If someone still thinks the article should be deleted, it would go to articles for deletion, where editors can make the case for or against keeping the article. Once a consensus is reached either way, the article is kept or deleted.

Glancing through the article, it may need some formatting clean-up and other minor things, but it does look like a legitimate article. I would recommend the manual of style for various tips. Best of luck! TN‑X-Man 15:28, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

To further expand on my last note, there are three possible ways an article can be deleted. If an article makes no claims of notability whatsoever, it can be speedily deleted. An article can also be proposed for deletion, just as the Robert Marsden article was. When an article is proposed for deletion, you have five days to improve the article, after which time, an admin will review the improvements to see if the article is noteworthy enough to be kept. However, if the proposed deletion tag is removed, the only way to delete an article is through the articles for deletion process. This opens the article to review from a number of different editors to see if it should be kept or deleted. I hope this clarifies! TN‑X-Man 15:39, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

I've converted the references you included at Robert Marsden into Wiki-style inline citations, and I've removed the {{unreferenced}} tag because the article now has a number of refs. If you can provide any more for the latter part of the article, this would be most helpful. I'm also going to suggest on the talkpage that the {{notability}} tag is no longer necessary as in my opinion your refs prove significant credible third-party coverage of this individual.

Formatting citations is not as daunting as it seems. There is currently a good discussion of the process here, on the New contributors' help page, which you might find it useful to read. I would also suggest you enable the RefTools gadget which adds a "cite" button to your editing toolbar; this provides templates to help make the process easier. Go to "my preferences", then "gadgets"; click the box marked "refTools" and save the page. If you need any more help, don't hesitate to ask. Karenjc 20:32, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

All good advice. I have cleaned it up a little more and added ibox and persondata templates. - ukexpat (talk) 21:25, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Template:ArticleHistory out of order

Template:ArticleHistory is currently out of order at Talk:Rob Pelinka and Talk:Bill Lange. It is showing the output for the WP:ITN field for no reason. I imagine it is breaking in many other places.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 16:15, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

I've reverted Splat5572's changes, since they broke the template in this way. Algebraist 16:24, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

(e/c) It was this edit that did it. Algebraist reversed it. If you spot problems like this in the future Tony, best to check the template history page first, usually indicates why it has been broken. Regards. Woody (talk) 16:27, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Content Menu

Hello

I'm trying to make an content index (with links to anchors in page) for my page, and i didn't find any information about it, i've even aks a friend and he said me that this content about my page is automatic!!!

193.137.99.111 (talk) 16:31, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

You can add a table of contents by typing __TOC__ at the top of a page. When a page has four headings, a table of contents is automatically placed on the page. There's more info at WP:TOC. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 16:36, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

See also Help:Section. If you still have problems then which page is it? PrimeHunter (talk) 17:53, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Problem rendering authorlink?

Can someone explain/fix the first reference found here: Maxime Faget Maury (talk) 17:06, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Authorlink is only for wikilinks to articles on the author. Since James Oberg has an article, set authorlink=James Oberg. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 17:17, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Ahhh, thanks. Is there an authorurl? Maury (talk) 18:31, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Not if you mean a url to an external website about the author. The parameters are documented at Template:Cite web. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:57, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

JIS NICKLE STANDARD

I WANT TO CHECK NICKLE STANDARD OF AUTOPARTS. WHAT IS PROCEDURE OF CHECKING OF NICKLE AUTO PARTS & WHAT IS JIS CRITERIA —Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.71.58.178 (talk) 17:23, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Have you tried the Miscellaneous section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there; this help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia. For your convenience, here is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. Algebraist 17:25, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Adding an article to an existing name

How do I add an an article about a person if there is already one existing by the same name, but I need to make one of a different person? --71.160.60.174 (talk) 17:31, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Disambiguation and note that your person should satisfy Wikipedia:Notability (people) to get an article. We can give more precise advice if we know which people it is about. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:50, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

First time user

I am the webmaster of a health and medical website - similar to a WebMd type of site. I would like to create a page similar to theirs...(which I have completed)

It says my page is USER:MyId - Am I even in the right neck of the woods? The help pages here read like stereo instructions!

Healthmadeeasy (talk) 17:59, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, you are in the wrong place. This is Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, not a web design site. Dabomb87 (talk) 18:21, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

...Unless you are trying to create an article on your website? In that case, I would recommend you read Wikipedia:Your first article and the conflict of interest guidelines. Dabomb87 (talk) 18:24, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

(edit conflict)It sounds like you want to create an article similar to the one for WebMD. Before getting started, it may be a good idea to read your first article and the notability guidelines for websites. I hope this helps! TN‑X-Man 18:25, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Not all web sites are notable enough to have an article on Wikipedia. WebMD is clearly a notable web site; I fear that HealthMadeEasy.com may not be. See WP:WEB for the Wikipedia’s notability guideline for web sites. —teb728 t c 18:35, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

There are a multitude of guidelines that could be confusin, but Wikipedia:FAQ/Business has a very good overview of those related to this issue. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 19:33, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Glamping is protected/blocked

I would like to add information to Wikipedia regarding the term 'Glamping'. However, this page is protected and has been for quite some time now. I know one request was sent to un-protect this page by a colleague some time back.

What can I do to start this page?

Ron Gibson —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.45.105.227 (talk) 18:35, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

You could create an account, and edit the page with that. Leonard^(Bloom) 18:45, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

No, he could not, because Glamping is protected due to repeated creation of spam articles. To the OP: you should create an account, then write a draft article in a subpage of your user page, then convince an administrator that your material is worthy to be in the encyclopedia, unlike the last five versions. Algebraist 18:50, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Ah... thanks for that note Algebraist. I didn't even look at the article. :P Leonard^(Bloom) 19:08, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Inserting a Photo into an Article

Hello: I'm having trouble inserting a picture into an article. I click on the "edit" button and try selecting the "insert picture" but all I get is the proposed file name where the picture is supposed to go.

Also, do I have to get a photo approved first? I've read the articles about photo use and rights but it's not clear if it relates to the article I'm creating.

Any help would be appreciated, particularly a step-by-step description (briefly set out, of course) as to how to insert a photo into an article.

I thank you very much for your assistance. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.67.17.165 (talk) 20:08, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Thanks to the Editor's index (which has a whole pile of useful links), I have found a concise tutorial to uploading images and inserting them into articles here: User:Smurrayinchester/Tutorial/Images. The one thing it doesn't mention, though, is that uploading is only available to autoconfirmed accounts - registered user accounts that are more than 4 days old and have more than 10 edits. You can create an account at Special:UserLogin/signup. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 23:04, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

I fixed the broken link in the above answer to point to WP:EIW#Image. The shortcuts in the Editor's index tend to have mixed-case anchor names. However, if anyone is motivated to spend a few hours on some really tedious editing, they could add a set of all uppercase anchor names. The shortcut mechanism that the Editor's index uses can accommodate multiple shortcuts per anchor point. The safest way to get the right shortcut is to copy it (not manually type it) right off the {{Shortcut}} template box along the right margin. --Teratornis (talk) 04:49, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

An image must be uploaded before it can be added to an article. You must have an autoconfirmed account at Wikipedia to upload the image to Wikipedia, or any account at Wikimedia Commons to upload it to http://commons.wikimedia.org. Images don't have to be approved first, but they must have a license allowing the use. See Help:Images and other uploaded files and come back if you have problems. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:10, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Most images should be uploaded to commons anyway, and I don't think your username has to be autoconfirmed to upload images there. You do, however, need to create/re-create your username there, and log-in. The exception is fair-use images, which can not be uploaded to commons and must be uploaded to WP. 199.125.109.43 (talk) 21:53, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Image-Move to commons

Red on white

Hi, I'd love to use that picture [[Image:HappyCubeParisModel.jpg]] in de:Wikipedia. Since it's not uploaded at commons, it's impossible. And I have no clue how to transfer it the right way. I'd be thankful, if someone did it for me or gave me some link-hint :-) There should be no license problems (public domain), but the author doesn't seem too active here. --Xario (talk) 20:34, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

You want the handy Move-to-commons assistant. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 20:43, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, thats great, thx. But that TUSC-confirmation-thing is unavoidable, right? --Xario (talk) 20:48, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Worked great, everything's done (awaiting deletion), thx again for this handy tool. --Xario (talk) 21:00, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Signature Customization

Resolved

 – Signatures are now awesome

I've been wondering how you customize signatures. I've checked some of the archives, but all the things they said in there haven't worked for me (e.g. insert tags like this, etc.). I've tried with tags and even something as simple as making it italicized hasn't worked. I'm really wondering how all the fancy stuff gets done. And I've checked the Wikipedia:Signatures and that only really tells you what not to do. This isn't extremely pressing, but I'd like to do something fun with my signature. Thanks! Helixer (talk) 21:15, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Go to Special:Preferences. Copy this to the Signature field:

[[User:Helixer|''Helixer'']] ([[User talk:Helixer|''talk'']])

Make a checkmark at "Raw signature". Click Save at the bottom. Does that work? PrimeHunter (talk) 22:33, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Thanks! That does work, but I was also looking for fancy colors and/or fonts. If it's just regular font tags, I don't know where they go. Helixer (talk) 03:07, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Yep. <font color= tags and <span style="color: tags work. Just place them inside the piped portion of your link. Have a look at my signature as an example. WODUP 03:11, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. So far it's better than what it was. I did try to fool around with color but it wasn't working for me and in my time zone I have to be up in about 8 hours so I'm leaving it for later. Thanks again for your help. Helixer (talk) 03:48, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Take a look at my signature and see if the color and font stuff works for you like it does for me. Corvus cornix_talk 20:39, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure if this'll work. I've tried stuff on my User page, but it never works, so I'm just gonna try it here. Thanks even if it doesn't work. Helixer (talk) 21:51, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Oh yeah! It worked. Well, if you call that bold & italic.... whatever. Thanks everyone! This is good enough for now! Helixer (talk) 21:54, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Editing Wikipedia

How do you edit Wikipedia? I saw some wrong information on Miley Cyrus and I am wondering how to fix it. Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Luvmysparkle123 (talk • contribs) 22:38, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Currently the Miley Cyrus article is semi-protected which means no non-auto confirmed users, like yourself, (Accounts less than five days old and IP addresses) can edit it. You can, however, post your findings on the article's talkpage and an autoconfirmed editor can fix it for you. Hope this helps. AngelOfSadness talk 22:45, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Accounts must also have at least 10 edits to become autoconfirmed. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:56, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

In my calculations, I would assume to believe that it is users less than four days with less than 10 edits are non-autoconfirmed users, not five days as said in WP:AUTOCONFIRM. -- RyRy (talk) 00:45, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Reporting problem

Just wish to mention that since this afternoon my editor does not work properly; the symbols in the character list do not get typed when clicking on them. The occurrence of this problem seems to coincide with the change of the format of the list of symbols in the lower part of the frame of the editor. The same applies for the buttons located at the top of the frame of the editor (for instance, on clicking on the symbol for signature, the signature does not get typed). Kind regards, --BF 23:01, 20 August 2008 (UTC).

There are users at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#New edit tools enabled for everyone reporting problems with WikEd enabled. Do you have that? PrimeHunter (talk) 00:16, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

If it was WikEd, it should be fine now. Algebraist 13:41, 21 August 2008 (UTC)