Wikipedia:Help desk

Article in other languages:

Help index · Help desk · Help chat (IRC) · Reference desk · FAQ · Editor's welcome · Tutorial · Cheatsheet · Glossary · Any questions?

Welcome to the Wikipedia Help desk
This page is only for questions about Wikipedia. Are you in the right place? For factual and other kinds of questions, use the search box or the Reference desk. For your own security, please do not provide your email address or other contact details. Answers will be provided on this page; we are unable to provide answers via email.
Search or read Frequently Asked Questions	Search the help desk archives
If you can't find an answer, click here to ask a new question.

Skip to today's questions · Skip to the bottom · Special help services · Archived discussions · How to answer

Shortcuts: WP:HELPDESK WP:HD WP:Y

1 January 3
2 January 5
3 January 6

January 3

HELP ME FIND THE ADDRESS FOR A WEB REGISTRAR

Dear Sir: I'm trying to find the email address and postal mailing address for the internet registrar; http://registrar.lundl.info Can you please help me? Sincerely Diana ^{[details removed]} —Preceding unsigned comment added by Traditionalcats (talk • contribs) 00:10, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

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.

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. 00:38, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

A simple whois for the domain shows the registered address here. Nanonic (talk) 00:54, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Template:Vector version available

Hi. There are two versions of an annotated map of Argentina (File:ARGENT.svg[1] and File:Argentina_-_Pol%C3%ADtico_2.png[2]) The latter is the original but it's in Spanish and I suppose an svg version is preferable anyway. The png version should be tagged with Template:Vector version available. Unfortunately, I don't know where the template should go. Does the Wikipedia image page have to be created or can it go in the Commons page? If so, whereabouts in the source? Thanks. --81.108.135.172 (talk) 02:59, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Music-CD Cover Scan

Hi.

I've scanned a local Funk-group CD cover formatting it as a .JPG, so that it could now be used in the group's article, which I had created, on he:wiki.

Would you so kindly inform me, given that I DO NOT possess any sort of registered account in any of the Wikipedia editions - but have a WikiCommons account, can I, and how (and where), upload this file and feature it on he:wiki without crossing the legal guidlines we're bounded to as editors here.

Thank you very much.

/Orrling 82.166.53.7 (talk) 03:14, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

WikiMedia wikis have had Single User Login enabled for quite some time now, you should be able to log onto Wikipedias in all languages using your Commons account information and then (depending on whether the Hebrew Wikipedia requires users to be autoconfirmed or not) upload your image. Nanonic (talk) 03:18, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Thank you, as a NON-REGISTERED he-wiki editor (now almost a year and a half) I am UNAUTHORIZED to upload files onto the project, though as said I can upload ORIGINAL pictures to Commons. Having little understanding in what this involves, and wishing to adhere the upload rules and yet to be able to have the cd-cover in that relevant article, could you please be more specific of how and where I can upload that picture, legally, WITHOUT REGISTERING to WikiPedia. /O 82.166.53.7 (talk) 03:27, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Please do not upload it to Commons. It is most likely copyrighted, and therefore explicitly forbidden at Commons. 03:30, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

I did have this in mind :) Thank you. Could I ask you (personally/systemwise) to receive that picture from me via mail, and upload it so I can then fix it in the article? (-or alternatively edit it into the article yourself?) Thanx so much. /O 82.166.53.7 (talk) 03:33, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Anyone?..? /O 82.166.53.7 (talk) 04:14, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Single User Login follow this, and you can login to any wikipedia/wikimedia wiki with your Commons credentials. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 10:51, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Help prevent deletion of file

Pleasr refer there and help me better my use of WikiPedia and its Commons.

Thanks 82.166.53.7 (talk) 15:31, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Can you guys please assist?

I've been dealing with this two-image-saga now from the early afternoon ITC and still those two files are risked (one already deleted) Please could someone read here -> [3] and give some advise, or rather, fix the 2 files, restore them - and tell me what I should do the next time I wish to uppload a picture I had received from someone else for free Wiki-use?

Thanks in advance!! /O 82.166.53.7 (talk) 21:09, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

The templates that have been added to the page tell you what you need to do, and in particular what form the licences must be provided. Since you are the only one in contact with the copyright holders, nobody here can help you. --ColinFine (talk) 23:27, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Ok now, hold it! -What does it mean? -No pictures in the article? Is that a happy thing? Or can you be more practic - as I stated I DO NOT know one license-code from another - and tell me in simple English/French/Swedish/Hebrew what tag I must apply to the two files? AKA - [951-core.jpg] and [plastico.jpg]? Thank you in advance! /O 82.166.53.7 (talk) 23:41, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

There is no easy process. Clearing copyright issues is a complicated matter, further complicated by language barriers apparently.

Then if you're hard at English I may try to read your instructions in another western language,

just make sure, please, my 2 files stay intact - I had day long supplied mails with permissions, why not clarify specifically what box I must tick from within the list over there. Thanx, /O 82.166.53.7 (talk) 00:25, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

You state that you have been given permission, but there is no way for us to verify that you are who you are, and have been given the permission that you claim. Either the copyright holder sends a permission to the emailadres you have been given multiple times, or the image will be deleted, there is no middle ground. You will have to wait for someone else to make a photograph that he submits with appropriate license terms. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 00:17, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Ok this is fair, thanks, yet could you maybe indicate for me now how to license those two myselvf? They are a donation to Wiki from the owner. Can it do if he mails the acknowledgement-form to this adress? 82.166.53.7 (talk) 00:46, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

flight pattern leads in ducks

cannot find answer to my question: when you see the ducks and geese flying in their v-formation, how is it decided which bird is at the head of the formation and leads the others?javascript:insertTags('207.5.122.150 (talk) 03:10, 3 January 2010 (UTC)',,)

See V-formation. They alternate apparently. --81.108.135.172 (talk) 03:24, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Cannot 'search' my new article

Hi,

I just finished moving an article that I had created to the mainspace with the 'move' facility. However, I am unable to retrieve this article via the search function in Wikipedia. Have I misssed something when moving my article or is there a time lag before an article is 'searchable'.

Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chammika.udalagama (talk • contribs) 04:20, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Im not an expert But I do think that there is a time lage for an article to show pu in the search. This has happened to me before as well.-- 04:49, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Yes, there is a time lag. See Wikipedia:Searching#Delay in updating the search index. PrimeHunter (talk) 05:03, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Archiving a web document?

Hi All,

If I (1) link to a webpage as a reference, and (2) sometime in the future that webpage disappears, then (3) ...my reference is gone, right?

So is there a Wikipedia format for uploading a .pdf file that archives reference information?

for example: http://scout.wisc.edu/Projects/PastProjects/NH/96-07/96-07-26/0052.html

thanks! -j —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bytebreaker (talk • contribs) 04:51, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Using WebCite. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:59, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Is there a MOS notice board?

Is there a WP:Manual of style noticeboard? There is a difference of opinion concerning the ordering of sections and subsections on Forward Operating Base Chapman attack. 05:04, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

You can discuss it on the MoS talk page -- /|\ 12:42, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for your help! At the moment, the issue is a bit moot, as the editor with whom I am in disagreement seems to have disappeared, or is working on other issues, but the controversy may come up again in the future, of course. 21:51, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

About Cruelty to Animals

Dear Sir/Madam, I Want to send an article through e-mail about Cruelty to Animals in (Denmark)to you for save of their lifes . Hence I required your organisation's mail-id. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.145.177.69 (talk) 06:58, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia does not accept articles through e-mail, no matter how important the subject matter.

If you wish to create an article, and have verified that the subject matter is notable by Wikipedia's criteria, and is not already covered, then you are welcome to create an article. But note that any article must be encyclopaedic - that is, written in a neutral tone, containing no original research, and wholly supported by published reliable sources. If your article is an essay, or otherwise arguing a point, it is not acceptable for Wikipedia. --ColinFine (talk) 09:39, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Can I Give you my credit card info or Social Security number to remove captchas?

Captchas are annoying, specially when writing an article when you dont like using the preview button. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Oldarney (talk • contribs) 10:02, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

That will not be a good idea. 10:13, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Captchas will go away once you've reached a certain edit count. But you can give me your credit card details (joking!). Nageh (talk) 12:22, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

You should have become autoconfirmed and avoid captchas 9 minutes after your post here. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:12, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Competitors delete our profile

I am the Chairman of the Society of British INterior Design and our competitors have continued to delete our profile. A complaint has been made and a trace of the culpret has been completed.

Will you please send information to allow us to upload our own data and protect it.

Vanessa Brady —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.154.176.179 (talk) 11:17, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

I can't find any indication that there has ever been an article with the title Society of British Interior Design. I'm not sure what you mean by your "profile"? Do you mean a user page? If so, which user name was it? The IP used to leave this question has no other edits, so I can't identify a possible article from it. In order for us to assist you, I'm afraid that we need more information than you have given us. -- /|\ 12:46, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

You do not have a 'profile'. You are discouraged from editing articles in which you have an interest. You cannot protect data in Wikipedia. This is an encyclopaedia, not a trade directory. If somebody has indeed deleted information for any other reason than to improve Wikipedia, that is a serious matter and should be investigated: please give us details. --ColinFine (talk) 13:02, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

However, I have just removed your link, along with others, from the article Interior design, as I believe that they contravene the policy in WP:External links. --ColinFine (talk) 13:11, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

IP address range search in Special:Contributions not working

Alright, I'll give it a shot here. Even though the help page states that users based on IP addresses can be searched using a wildcard asterisk in an address range, apparently this is not working. It would be tremendously helpful in locating vandal edits by users connecting with dynamic IP addresses. Thx, Nageh (talk) 12:20, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

I'm guessing this is a bug! I can't find a way to get this to work - there is a question on the the help talk page from November 2008, which hasn't got a response. You would probably better asking this question at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical) rather than here. -- /|\ 12:55, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Further to my reply: there is a request at Bugzilla about this, along with the related discussion. -- /|\ 13:01, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Check "Allow /16 and /24 – /32 CIDR ranges on Special:Contributions forms (uses API), as well as wildcard prefix searches" under Gadgets in Special:Preferences. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:31, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Awesome! Thanks a lot to both of you! Though it would be nice to have finer control between /16 and /24 CIDR range searches, it's working well enough. Nageh (talk) 13:42, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Copyright

Hello I wonder can you tell me if I quote some information from a page into a book that I am writing and I attribute it to the website will i be infringing the copyright. I intend to sell the book but only to cover costs as it is probably for local use since it is a book on the people from a particular parish in Scotland who served in WW1 and the interest is in the history of some of the ships. Thank you92.9.92.167 (talk) 13:11, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Please read WP:Reusing Wikipedia content. If that doesn't answer all your questions, come back here. --ColinFine (talk) 13:13, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Have I done all I need to?

I created a new Wikipedia article, then requested that it might be moved into the main encyclopedia; this was done by an editor, and then I received the message below and I have tried to do what's been requested. I THINK I have now done everything I need to, to finish this article and leave it in the main encyclopedia, but I am struggling to understand how to use Wikipedia and would be very grateful if someone could check that I'm all finished. Thank you.

Copied template removed from Help page --ColinFine (talk) 19:29, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

You have done everything you needed to do with regard to moving the page: the template you copied here was informing you of that, but not requiring anything from you.

However, the article, though a good start, needs some work.

You have left an example external link in - please remove it
Every article should be placed in at least one category.
You have included several references, which is good; but please look at WP:Cite to find out how to format them better.
Generally for UK subjects, UK spellings are preferred, so I would use 'aeroplane' rather than 'airplane'.

But congratulations on getting this far, 51336Bio! --ColinFine (talk) 19:36, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Text keeps jumping up and down

I have a problem when I attempt to edit a page, the text keeps jumping up and down. It makes it hard to edit and means I occasionally edit the wrong thing. Why is it doing this? (79.190.69.142 (talk) 21:52, 3 January 2010 (UTC))

Since nobody else has reported this, I suspect it is a problem with your browser. Have you tried restarting your browser? And which (version of which) browser are you using? --ColinFine (talk) 23:28, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Redirect

Is it possible for me to redirect this Jenny Shimizu page to this Jenny Lynn Shimizu page, I can see how to move it but I have blanked it and just want to create a redirect for people searching for the article. It was a double created bio. Off2riorob (talk) 21:58, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

It would be much better to redirect the new version to the longstanding one; the new one has a lot of promotional content and bad sourcing -- note, for example, that two of the first four "references" are phony cites to a dummy page. Hullaballoo Wolfowitz (talk) 22:08, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

I can see 48 refs on the Jenny Lynn Shimizu article, I dont mind at all which way the content goes, it was suggested to merge the content from the duplicated articles, I was simply working towards this, I have kept all the content on the talkpage of the new article. Off2riorob (talk) 22:13, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

Templates

How are templates created? They seem so difficult to understand. Mr. Prez (talk) 00:03, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

See Help:Template. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:08, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

I want to create categories

Cant find anything about it. Here...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Categories_for_discussion my question was simply deleted after one month. Nobody answered anything.German.Knowitall (talk) 00:10, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Did you read this section on cats? ArcAngel (talk) (review) 00:21, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Your post was archived with no answers at Wikipedia talk:Categories for discussion/Archive 2009#Categories for quizzing. It was a wrong place to post. Wikipedia:Categories for discussion is for discussing changes (delete/rename/merge) to existing categories but not creation of new categories. There is no central place for that. Any logged in user can create a category by saving a non-empty category page. If you want feedback then you can try the talk page of a relevant WikiProject like Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Games. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:31, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

In fact you can create a category by adding a link to it on any page by inserting [[Category:<category name>]] anywhere on the page. It will appear as a redlink until you put text into the category page itself, but if multiple pages link to it, it will function as a category containing all those pages. --ColinFine (talk) 08:09, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the answers. I'm not sure if I understand it all but I will try to go ahead with this advice.German.Knowitall (talk) 00:08, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

start up

how do I start my own page in Wikipedia? Mmellino (talk) 02:59, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Welcome to Wikipedia, please have a read through this. Jeffrey Mall (talk • contribs) - 03:11, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

What do you mean by "my own page"? On Wikipedia, we do not own pages, but you can make a user page about yourself. --Teratornis (talk) 04:19, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

If you mean that you want to create a page about a new topic, please read your first article carefully. --ColinFine (talk) 08:10, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

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

—Thank you.

Before creating an article, 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 with which all articles should comply. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite 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. You might also look at Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, 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. – ukexpat (talk) 17:32, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Assessing (Grading) an Article in an WikiProject

In WikiProjects, I've noticed that articles are given grades (A, B, C, Start, Stub, etc) and importance levels. Who is allowed to grade an article? Can anyone do it, can only admin, or is there some special process where multiple people give input? I know that most WikiProjects give a grading scheme matrix on the WikiProject main page, but I wasn't sure if there was some sort of process of actually giving the grade and/or changing a grade.

Also, is the method for assessing an article the same from WikiProject to WikiProject, or is it just dependent on the project and their participants?

Thanks for your time!--armoreno10 04:03, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Generally, anything "B" and below can be assigned by anyone, but A-level needs a formal review by someone who is active in the project. There are a few projects that also require a somewhat formal review for B-class as well, but I think if you are looking for anything below A-class, just make a good-faith effort to assess it yourself using the criteria listed at the relevent Wikiproject. If you want an "A-class" review, find someone who is active in the project, and ask them to review it. -- 04:09, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

And see the links under WP:EIW#Assessment. --Teratornis (talk) 04:21, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Log in

Very strange. I was asked to log in, which happens every month or so, and could not. I enter my name, and it is changed automatically to all capital letters, and then is unrecognized. I cannot enter my user name as it is. What goes on?? An answer can be put on my talk page, I am Dumarest. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.142.164.33 (talk) 13:09, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Your user page says you use Firefox. Check if the wrong username is stored in Firefox. See [4]. Copied to User talk:Dumarest#Log in. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:59, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Facts

Trying to change facts regarding a page created about my father (media personality). —Preceding unsigned comment added by Steve.holmanjr (talk • contribs) 13:13, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Are you referring to [5]? Information in Wikipdia should be verifiable with prior publication in a reliable source. People are not allowed to use their own unpublished knowledge. Do you have a published source to this statement? The text was placed in the wrong place. The "edit this page" tab at top can edit the whole page. See also Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons and Wikipedia:Conflict of interest. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:07, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Flagging a Section as United States - orientated?

In the Article History of Banking - Global Banking, this section seems to be entirely about banking in the United States, not global.

This:

{{Original research}} {{Unreferenced}}

Is tagged in the opening to the section, but how do I add one that flags it as being US-orientated? E.G Interactive (talk) 16:45, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:WikiProject Countering systemic bias#Related cleanup templates and Category:Internationalisation maintenance templates. {{Globalize/USA|section}} may suit your purpose. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:54, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Thank you.

suits the purpose just fine. E.G Interactive (talk) 16:58, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Number

FINDING A NUMBER WITH A 602 OR 603 NUMBER. i HAD A CALL FROM ONE OF THOSE PREFIXES AND HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO READ THE REST OF THE NUMBER. i AM VERY MUCH INTERESTED IN THE SPEED DIAL PROGRAM, AND WOULD LIKE TO GET BACK TO THE FELOOW WHO i WAS TALKING TO. i LIVE IN A 954 AREA WHICH ARE LOOKING FOR REPS. tHANK YOU, rOBERT yNGVE ^{[details removed]} —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.245.232.231 (talk) 17:34, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Please use a descriptive title in future questions.

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Wikipedia:Reference desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer 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. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps. --Mysdaao ^talk 17:57, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Please do not SHOUT. Writing in all-caps, or "shouting", is considered inconsiderate and attention-seeking behaviour, and is thus discouraged. Your question will be no less regarded if written in regular case, nor will it be any more regarded if written in uppercase; in fact, many users choose to ignore queries written in all-uppercase. 18:28, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Info Box

Please advise on how to insert info box i.e. Vasileios Spanoulis for Joshua Urbiztondo,Thank You, Dave —Preceding unsigned comment added by David Urbiztondo (talk • contribs) 20:40, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

The infobox you require can be found here: Template:Infobox basketball player. To insert the infobox into User:David Urbiztondo/Joshua Urbiztondo, just edit the draft article and put the infobox coding at the top of the article.

Also, looking at your username, I'm guessing you are related? I would advise you to read Wikipedia's Conflict of Interest guidelines and Wikipedia's Neutral POV guidelines. Although not forbidden, it can be difficult writing about someone you personally know in a neutral point of view! -- /|\ 20:49, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Need help in posting an article

I have written a subpage for a client of mine and am ready to post it...but frankly, the directions for doing so make no sense tome. I had no problem creating the article under my user ID: Colleenszot/Phil Cooke. I just want to post it! Can someone help me so I easily understand how to post? Thanks so much Colleen ~~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Colleenszot (talk • contribs) 21:51, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

No. It would be a conflict of interest for you to post a biography of a person who has paid you to write it and/or post it to Wikipedia. --Jc3s5h (talk) 21:55, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Plus, there is no evidence that Mr Cooke satisfies Wikipedia's notability guidelines, meaning if the article was posted it would likely be deleted for being about a non-notable topic. Being on TV does not necessarily make you notable; if it did, then I would have a better claim to notability than Mr Cooke (no offence intended). I suggest you read and understand Your first article, What Wikipedia is not and all of the 5 pillars. Xenon54 / talk / 22:01, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Alternatively, anyone can post a biography about anyone on WikiBios. There was also a Wikipopuli but it seems to be broken now. What city are you in? Your city may have a City wiki where you could post. City wikis are nice because they dispense with Wikipedia's notability requirements, and aim for comprehensive depth about a given geographical area, with articles about (ideally) every business, school, park, street, public building, nonprofit organization, or person in that area who wants an article. --Teratornis (talk) 01:10, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I moved it into article space, but it is obvious spam and unlikely to survive. -- | 01:14, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Posts for The International Cat Association

Hi -- I am the Director of Marketing for The International Cat Association (TICA). I did not set up the account to originate the page on TICA or post other information regarding the different breeds, the cat fancy, etc. So, that means I don't -- and no one else at our office -- know(s) who set up the account or the log in.

Do I need to be the originator of this content to be able to edit the content on the page about TICA or to post links to our new breed pages? If I do, can you help me with the log in for the account that was set up or tell me who originated it?

I appreciate your help!

Regards Debra Decker TICA Marketing www.tica.org

63.98.241.3 (talk) 23:11, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Hi Ms Decker. Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia which anyone can edit. You can edit the article on The International Cat Association, as you edited this page, by clicking on "edit this page" at the top of the page. However: you are strongly discouraged from editing the article of an entity which you are directly related to, except to correct unambiguous factual errors; this is known as having a conflict of interest. Any changes must be backed up by citing reliable sources. If there are factual errors you would like to correct, please see the tutorial and, of course, please do not hesitate to come back here if you have more questions. Xenon54 / talk / 23:59, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Or to gain consensus on changes that you think should be made, please open a discussion on the article's talk page. – ukexpat (talk) 15:15, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

And do disclose your interest in the subject if you post there. --ColinFine (talk) 19:10, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

January 5

daniel fromenglish to japanese

I just want to know my name in japanese but in english letters. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 157.130.115.6 (talk) 01:15, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

This is Wikipedia's help desk. This page is intended to answer questions about Wikipedia, not general knowledge questions, which should be directed to the reference desk. You can either ask there or go to a website such as Google Translate. Xenon54 / talk / 01:20, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Adding a Legion Of Merit Recipient

In am Sundance1949 - a new member.

I tried to add my name to the list... not sure if I got it right. Please advise

I have (3) Legions of Merit and would like to be on the List - I can provide proof, retired 1 Sep 09.

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sundance1949 (talk • contribs) 01:24, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Actually the way you added is not correct and I have removed the entry. The way to add someone to the category is to create an article on the person and then add the category to the article. But creating an article on yourself is discouraged because of the conflict of interest. Also the article should be created only if you are notable. If you have any questions let me know. ~~ GB fan ~~ ^talk 02:08, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Also note the box at top of Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit and see WP:MILPEOPLE. It appears you are mentioned at the end of Meal, Combat, Individual ration for eating a forty-year old pound cake. It may seem unfair to only be noted for that in Wikipedia but it is apparently a popular story. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:07, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Hi my name Is Craig

I have a question what Is the hottest part of a blow torch flame? Is It no.1 Beyond the tip of the Inner air cone or 2 The base? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.36.166.246 (talk) 02:00, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

You might find what you are looking for in the article about Blow torch. 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. --Mysdaao ^talk 02:21, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Possible Incorrect naming

Similar question to Jan. 1st's 1.10 question about 'User:AllanVLacki/"Santa Biondo"' - when I finally move my article from user subpage to live, will the 'User:Sputtnik/' disappear and leave just the title "John Scott Biddle"? Thanks. Sputtnik (talk) 02:16, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Yes, when you move the page, you can remove the "User:Sputtnik/" part to rename the page "John Scott Biddle", which will put the page into the article namespace. --Mysdaao ^talk 02:30, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Links not working

Two links in my article, 'Log Canoes' and 'America's Cup Hall of Fame' are located in Wikipedia, yet my links appear red. Why? Thanks. Sputtnik (talk) 02:28, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I fixed them for you :) Jeffrey Mall (talk • contribs) - 02:37, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

You beat me to it. Link names must match the target article (or a redirect) exactly. You can ensure this by copy-pasting from the target to the edit box. There are different characters curly ’ and straight ' where Wikipedia prefers the latter. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:44, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I was falsely accused of "vandalising" an aricle I never even knew about.

I use Wikipedia very often for information, but I very rarely make edits. Minutes ago, while I was researching something, I got a message that was a warning not to make useless edits and/or "vandalise" articles, the example being that I had recently made such a negative change to the article "BlogTV." I don't know what BlogTV is and have obviously never even visited the page. How could this have happened and why? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.71.212.135 (talk) 04:44, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

It's from July 2008, by somebody else on the same IP address. No worries, you can ignore it. 04:57, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Well thank you very much. One last tidbit: Should someone else on this IP adress need to be banned, what happens to me? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.71.212.135 (talk) 05:06, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

You, should you have had the foresight to create an account for yourself would be perfectly safe. If, perchance, you had not created an account for yourself, would then be unable to edit. So, if you are concerned about being unable to edit because other people have vandalized articles and got your IP address blocked, simply create an account for yourself, and this problem goes away. Creating an account is free, and entitles you to additional tools and several other benefits not availible to unregistered users. -- 05:13, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I have had an account, the password to which I forgot. Whatever, I'll make a new one eventually. Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.71.212.135 (talk) 05:23, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

See also the box at the bottom of User talk:76.71.212.135. The edit to BlogTV is here. Wikipedia knows that IP addresses can change so most blocks on IP addresses are for a short time. If you give an email address in your account while you have access to it then you can have a new password mailed to it at the login screen. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:46, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Clearing an image cache internally

I uploaded a new version of File:Ilanalost.jpg a while back, yet the old version still shows at the article Ilana (Lost). At first, I just thought that it was my browser/computer, but I have since viewed the page on other computers—even one in another country—and the image will not refresh. Thanks, –thedemonhog talk • edits 05:16, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

As it is not just on your computer, you don't need to bypass your browser cache, which would normally be my first suggestion! My next suggsetion would then be to purge the page - this forces the wiki software to rebuild the page completely. However, I have tried that, and Ilana (Lost) is still showing the original version of the image (13:51, 11 December 2009) rather than the current version you uploaded (07:21, 24 December 2009). I'm not sure what to advise you - I'm leaving this message more for others to let them know that I've already done the "normal" methods for solving this problem! Any ideas, anyone? -- /|\ 08:08, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I see the new image now. The image servers were a bit busy tonight (globalusage extension was enabled again), so that might have been a factor in the delay. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 11:18, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

(e/c) We are in the twilight zone here. This image has strange powers and I believe we should all just back away slowly. I tried the normal things everyone had already done, purging both pages. Then I performed both a null edit and a dummy edit; no luck. So then I deleted the prior image and purged; no go and figured it was some type of job queue issue. The deletion actually occurred. The deletion log entry is accessible. Why am I saying this? Because here's where it gets other side of the looking glass bizarre. I went to restore the prior version I had just deleted and got an error saying something like "this cannot be restored this is probably because someone has already restored the image". I then navigated back to the image and it was restored but there's no log of the restoration. Never seen anything like this. Afternote: as DJ notes, it's now working, but still doesn't explain the restoration strangeness.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 11:33, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

12th day of Christmas

12th day of Christmas When do you take decorations down? before the 12th or on the 12th or after the 12th? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.240.109.135 (talk) 09:04, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Miscellaneous reference desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link and ask away. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps. Someguy1221 (talk) 09:06, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Hiding a controversial edit by doing a minor edit straight after

Is there a name for, or any guidance about, the practice of doing a controversial/major edit to an article, then doing a minor edit straight after so that the controversial edit doesn't appear in people's watchlists? (This is just a speculative question, and doesn't pertain to any disruptive editing that I'm aware of.) NotFromUtrecht (talk) 09:16, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I'm not aware of either a name for it (other than "trying to pull a fast one"!) or any guidance about it. It's something that Recent Change Patrollers may well notice though (especially if they are using automated tools). However, it's not something that a bot or anything could pick up - I quite often find that someone does a major edit (or any edit) on an article, and then immediately afterwards does a minor edit to fix up a typo they hadn't noticed when they previewed - like a couple of times when your edit on Raw Dykes was followed within a minute or two with a minor edit (not that I'm suggesting anything, it's just an example I saw in your contributions!) It's something which people just need to keep an eye out for from time to time. -- /|\ 13:01, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I'm not aware of any. Consecutive edits where the last is minor is common with no intention to hide something. Help talk:Minor edit would be the place to suggest something. Under Watchlist in preferences you can choose "Expand watchlist to show all changes, not just the most recent". And all diffs show the time and editor of the previous edit. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:58, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

You can also choose to hide minor edits in your watchlist - provided the editor marks them as minor, of course. --ColinFine (talk) 19:13, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Can we kill external links eyetest?

Can the eye-test for adding external links be removed, to reopen full contributions from visually-impaired users? Can registered users be switched over to URLBLs or some better anti-spam system? —Preceding unsigned comment added by AaronJumper (talk • contribs) 09:48, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Those systems are also in use. Unfortunately, that is not enough :( When you have made at least 10 edits and your account is 4 days old, the CAPTCHA test is lifted. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 11:25, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

wikipedia-for Mr. Jimmy Wales

Who on earth can drive in the dark with a failed steering system ie the car "free wheeling" and can came out alive with only 6 stitches on the forehead?

On 26th Sept 2009, at about 5.45am (still dark) on the middle lane of a three lanes, express highway, at about 90km/hr, all lights suddenly went off and the steering wheel rattled furiously, totally lost control of the car, swayed left, then reversed on to the 4 wheels and over to the right and stopped there.

The weather was good, no rain, no cross wind, no oil spill and light traffic.

What could have happened? Is it EPS-ECU Failure? If so , can somebody out there can give a logical and scientific explanation. Much appreciate with diagrams and drawings too.

This is a truth statement. Not something out of the Twilight Zone.

Thank you.

BL Goh—Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.133.17.245 (talk) 12:27, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Have you tried the Science 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. Don't expect Jimmy Wales to answer though. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:37, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Incorrect information

I edited the information on Bishop Rhoades. His father (and mine as I am the Bishop's sister) was the cousin of state senator James Rhoades. It was incorrectly stated that his father was the brother of the late state senator. This should also be editied in the synopsis that comes up describing the article.

Robin McCrackenRobin McCracken (talk) 13:14, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I see your edit [6]. I'm not sure what you mean by the synopsis describing the article but if it is the former version being displayed on search terms in Wikipedia's search function or an external search engine then it will automatically be updated when the article is next indexed by that search function. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:19, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

PDF export in English.

Hello! In Italiano and Español Wikipedia, on the left, there is a "print/export" box, with the option "Download as PDF". I think it is immensely useful, but I am unable to find it in the English Wikipedia, only Italian and Spanish. Why?

Thank you very much! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.133.111.176 (talk) 13:19, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Logged in users have the link. I'm not sure why it is restricted to that. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:30, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

The features that "download as PDF" is part of (Collection and create a book functionality) are only available for registered users on the English Wikipedia. This was per request of the English Wikipedia community that judged that the book functionality was too complicated to bother casual readers with. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 13:41, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

editing biographical entry on now deceased person

Dear Wikipedia, I am the original author of an entry,that should be changed to reflect his death on May 4, 2009, in New York. However, I cannot find back my original user name, and have created a new wikipedia account. I am not sure if that is the reason, or if it is due to administrative locking, but I am unable to edit the first paragraph of the entry to reflect the subject's death. Please advise, thank you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_A_Clemente Cmclemente1 (talk) 14:09, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Click the "edit this page" tab at top to edit the lead. Help:Section#Editing before the first section shows other methods. This is the same for all users. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:23, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Incidently, if you were the creator of the article, then your user name was CMCVD. If you know the password, then you can log in with that. If not, as the account would appear to have an e-mail address associated, then you can request a new password - enter your username on the login screen and click 'E-mail new password', which will send a temporary password to your e-mail address that will allow you to retrieve your account. If you no longer have access to the e-mail address, there is nothing that can be done, I'm afraid.

However, I should point out that you only had 8 edits on that account (all in March 2007), so if you can't remember the password (or don't have access to the e-mail address), just continue using your current account. -- /|\ 14:30, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I have fixed a couple of formatting points in the article:

you had included a <ref>, but there was not a <references/> or {{reflist}} further down, so the reference you inserted didn't appear.
Your reference had no title. Rather than just adding a title, I have converted it to a {{cite web}}

Having done this, I would point out that the article is otherwise lacking in reliable sources, and a quick Google did not turn up any. I am wondering if the subject is actually notable by Wikipedia's criteria.

I also observe that judging by your user name, it seems likely that you are related to the subject. Please be aware of COI. Adding sourced factual information, as you have done, is fine; but it is difficult to write a neutral article about a relation. --ColinFine (talk) 19:27, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Copy Template

Hi! I received a suggestion to use a template for my article: Template:Cite news. When I follow the link, it says "Copy a blank version to use. Remember to use the "|" (pipe) character between each field. Please delete any unused fields to avoid clutter in the edit window."

How do I copy the template and where do I paste it? Sorry to be so stupid. I find this very difficult to navigate. Additionally, I don't know if I should ask this in my sandbox or here. Many thanks for your attention and patience. Apologies if I have posted in the wrong place. Belleami (talk) 15:09, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

The template is at Template:Cite news. Go to that page and you'll see blank versions near the top under the Usage section. Copy one of those and paste it in your article where you want to cite a news source, fill in the the fields you know, and remove the unused fields. This is exactly the right place to ask questions, so let us know if you have any more questions! --Mysdaao ^talk 15:18, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Introduction of Wikipedia:Requests for adminship

I would be interested to know when Requests for Adminship were first introduced on Wikipedia, as I have seen some admins who don't have a RfA listed in their name. Paul 2387 15:22, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Successful requests for adminship/2003. The page Wikipedia:Requests for adminship was created here on 14 June 2003. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:44, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

What I was wanting to know was when the current Request for Adminship system was introduced as per the reason in my original question. Paul 2387 15:58, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

The system with on-wiki discussion at Wikipedia:Requests for adminship was introduced 14 June 2003. If you mean the system with a subpage for each candidate then it follows from User:NoSeptember/RfA chronological#September 2004 that it started 17 September 2004 in [7] with Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Arminius. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:28, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Bessie Blount Griffin

I have a family friend who appears in a wiipedia article. I recently found out from my mother who is a very good friend of hers, that she died on December 30, 2009. I went into the article and edited it (I have an account). i checked the article this morning and it was not there. Why? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.148.53.200 (talk) 15:26, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

If you are User:1flychic, then you made this edit to add that she died. (If you are that user, please log in.) The edit was reverted by User:CliffC with this edit using the edit summary "needs a source". It is Wikipedia policy that content should be verifiable. If you want to add it back, please provide a reliable source for this information. Saying you found this out from your mother is not enough because nobody can verify that. --Mysdaao ^talk 15:32, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

(edit conflict) It was reverted in [8] because there was no source. Some people have made false death claims in Wikipedia (and elsewhere). Wikipedia requires verifiable published reliable sources for information. Can you find one? Personal knowledge is not enough. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:35, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Band Pages

I was just wondering, when I tried to make a page for a band called Amorth, why was it deleted?The reason given was that it wasn't worth the space on wikipedia.

I'm a little confused because:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Kilter

This band is allowed a page on Wikipedia.

They are on the SAME record label as Amorth, and another thing that doesn't make sense, is the fact that this band has less fans on myspace than Amorth, and has only released an E.P, whereas Amorth are releasing a full Album on Itunes, HMV, amazon etc on the 18th of January and the 1st of February.

Please could you explain.

Many thanks

Oli —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.3.134.178 (talk) 15:46, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

As you are not logged into the account you used to create the page I can't check the reason it was deleted, please be aware though that any band or musical ensemble that doesn't meet the notability criteria for musicians and ensembles will not be allowed entry into Wikipedia's article space. See Wikipedia:Notability for more information. Jeffrey Mall (talk • contribs) - 15:57, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

There has not been an article called Amorth. What was the page called or which username did you use to create it? User:Oli has not edited since 2006. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:03, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

After some searching I guess it was Amorth band created by User:Amorth (Band). The only content was:

"Amorth is a four piece metal band from Worcestershire, England, formed in 2003. The current line up comprises of Oli Hunt (vocals, guitar), Jonny Webster (vocals, bass), Chris Mueller (guitar) and Will Harris (Drums)."

It was deleted per Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion#A7. You are apparently a member of the band. See Wikipedia:FAQ/Organizations. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:13, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Also to correct some misperceptions here. Bands are not "allowed" their own page. No one is "allowed" anything at Wikipedia, per WP:OWN. There are subjects which are deemed notable enough, isofar as there are enough reliable sources to reference enough information such that it seems worthwhile to maintain an article at Wikipedia about that subject. Wikipedia doesn't work like MySpace where pages are created by bands and companies and people. In fact, at Wikipedia, bands and companies and people are not allowed to create, work on, or maintain articles about themselves. -- 20:40, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

And arguments of the form "but they have an article" are considered very weak, though they sometimes lead to the other articles being nominated for deletion. --ColinFine (talk) 21:11, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Permissions help needed

I need help expediting a permissions acknowledgement at Wikipedia_talk:Did_you_know#Wrong_picture. I have 7 hours and 40 mintes befor the wrong picture is going to appear on the main page in a DYK hook.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 16:20, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

I have no clue what your talking about, please elaborate? South Bay (talk) 21:44, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

On December 31, I sent consent to permissions-en@wikimedia.org for all three images in Red Tail Project, which is going on the main page in the DYK section at 0:00. It has not been process. Thus, they are using a picture of an example of the type of plane rather than the actual images plane itself.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 22:00, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

You might have a better chance of attracting the attention of an OTRS volunteer by posting at WP:ANI or via one of the irc channels if you have that capability. – ukexpat (talk) 22:06, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Eh, we can trust him, I put up one of the three images on the article. They'll get around to permissions soon. 22:13, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Memory from Vietnam

Hello I'm Allen Lucas at <e-mail redacted> I have found in my parents house a open reel recorder, in new condition that I shipped to my parents, from vietman to listen to tapes I made for them. It is a National Sterio Tape Recorder,Model RS-7555 SS # 33490 bought at Army PX, in Cam Ron Bay in 1967. It is slightly dusty but in mint condition. Can you tell me about it, and can I buy the open reel tape spools for it now? It's 43 years old and is in mint condition and works perfectly I will look for your reply. Allen Lucas <email redacted> <phone # redacted> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.197.145.89 (talk) 18:41, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

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. – ukexpat (talk) 18:55, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

what do I do when someone dies & their WP biography doesn't yet reflect it?

Kenneth Noland died today, but when I checked his article, that info wasn't there yet.

By the time you read this question, someone else will have properly adjusted his article, so I'm asking a more general query: do we have, say, a ticket system at "WP:current events" so that we can make sure that news articles are getting reflected in WP articles? I mean, if the death had been a somewhat less famous person, and we didn't have such a system, it could be weeks before his/her death was logged.

Since WP:BIO is such a specially rigorous policy, maybe we do need a ticket system for logging deaths?

Andrew Gradman ^talk/_WP:Hornbook 19:11, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

On that particular death, at the moment the only source of information is the only reference to his death (and that was posted just under an hour ago).

With regard to a ticket system, as the Current Events is (like everything else on Wikipedia) a volunteer thing, an editor would need to know about the event to list it - in which case, they are just as likely to update the article as add it to the list there. With most articles, there are people who have it on their watchlist who would hear about the death and update the article. Your idea is interesting, but I don't think that it would work any differently to how things are currently done. -- /|\ 19:26, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

This is the third question today relating to the death of a person featured in an article, and one of them Nicholas A Clemente indeed died seven months ago. But not only is there the issues PhantomSteve mentions, there is also the question of reliable sources, as in #Bessie Blount Griffin. --ColinFine (talk) 19:33, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Phantomsteve, I can see how a ticket system would be self-defeating, in the sense that the effort to update the ticket system just substitutes for the effort to update the article itself. On the assumption, however, that this reasoning would not apply in cases where we can exploit different skills that different Wikipedians bring to the table, I would like to argue that this is one of those cases. I am a person who browses lots of newspapers; I am always killing time on google reader. I might want to make this habit useful by logging news articles into the ticket system. Then, someone else (a more dedicated Wikipedian, or just someone who isn't doing his editing from the workplace!) can devote a solid chunk of thought to actually assimilating individual newspaper articles into Wikipedia articles.
As I consider the hurdles, I think such a system would work best by having the tickets go into the articles or talk pages themselves. For example, we currently put {{Current}} on certain articles, with the purpose of alerting the reader to the fact that "Information may change rapidly as the event progresses". Why not reform that template, so that it constitutes the ticket (i.e. auto-populates the page WP:current events/tickets)? We can also add a new argument to the template, for hyperlinks to newspaper articles; and perhaps another argument for the date of the article, so that readers know how stale the notice is.
Example: Ken Noland dies, and I go to his article and add {{tl|Current|http://nyt.com.[something]|January 5, 2009}}. That adds a ticket to WP:current events/tickets. Someone visits that page, sees the open ticket, edits the page, and then modifies the template to read {{tl|Current|http://nyt.com.[something]|January 5, 2009|CLOSED}}. He doesn't delete the template, however -- we want it to stay there long enough for the event-in-question to get out of the news, so that someone doesn't open a whole new ticket. That's why the template also has a field for the date. It sits there until some Wikipedian thinks, "Yeah, that event won't be in the news anymore". Then he'll delete the template.
Andrew Gradman ^talk/_WP:Hornbook 20:19, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

An interesting idea, Andrew! However, it begs the question "if you see it in a newspaper, and have time to add a template to the article, wouldn't you have time to add the details?" - you only need to have (for example, assuming it was the example you gave above about Noland) the date of death added and then <ref>http://nyt.com.something</ref> - which will take as long as typing the template details above! You could also add a category (e.g. Category:2010 deaths) at the bottom of the article. It just strikes me as creating more work in the short term - others will tidy up the references, and probably add more if required, as well as details of the cause of death etc. Just my 0.02 -- /|\ 20:29, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Actually, I'm warming to Andrew's idea. The problem with your argument is that in some cases the death may require a number of edits distributed through the article: only rarely will these individually be difficult or awkward, but there could be a lot of them. I think a box at the top which says "This person died on .... The article may not yet have been updated to reflect this fact" (with a reference of course) might be helpful. --ColinFine (talk) 20:58, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

┌─────────────┘
(outdent) If Wikipedia ever got a successful ticket system, it would drive Mechanical Turk out of business for all but the poorest users ;) So I think this is worth continued thought.
A successful ticket system must meet two conditions: (1) adding the ticket must be more appealing than doing the work without the ticket to some sizable group of people; (2) the existence of the ticket has to create a post-ticket workflow that is more efficient than doing the work without the ticket.
Here, I think (2) is uncontroversially a home run, since pages with tickets will be transcluded into a central to-do list, whose items would be popular to work on (in the sense that the work is vegetative but important).
The uncertainty surrounds (1), but I also think that is satisfied. Adding tickets is addictive because it's vegetative (thus, attractive to middle school students?). Also, it can be done in assembly-line style just by doing a google news search for "dies". In fact, we could write an external program that makes adding tickets even easier: it tries to find wikipedia articles that relate to a given newspaper article; it takes the existence of an open ticket into account when deciding whether to present a match; the user just has to click "Create a ticket" or "Ignore". Also, the program can do the very important work of categorizing biographies with, e.g., Category:2010 deaths. Since Google already includes Wikipedia articles in Google News, it wouldn't be hard to write.
On another occasion, I created a ticket system that more obviously meets condition (1). You insert, onto an article's talk page, {{refideas}}, which lets you identify encyclopedic, public-domain sources that can be assimilated into that article by someone with no specialized knowledge in the area. The template then transcludes the article to this category, which becomes a watering hole for non-specialists looking for meaningful work. (Here's a fuller explanation.) It still hasn't taken off -- but I think that's because I'm too busy to promote it.
I'll collect feedback for a few days, then I'll add a thread on the village pump. Andrew Gradman ^talk/_WP:Hornbook 03:45, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

adding pictures

If i think i can get a better picture on a certain page, How can i use a link to make a picture appear? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rkashyap98 (talk • contribs) 19:55, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Help:Images and Wikipedia:Picture tutorial. --Teratornis (talk) 20:21, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

If you want to add an existing image to an article, add [[Image:File name.jpg|thumb|Caption text.]] to the area of the article where you want the image to appear – replacing File name.jpg with the actual file name of the image, and Caption text with a short description of the image. See our picture tutorial for more information.
If you want to upload an image from your computer for use in an article, you must find out what the proper license of the image is. If you know the image is licensed under a free-license, upload it to the Wikimedia Commons instead of here, so that all projects have access to the image (sign up). If you are unsure what license the image takes, see the file upload wizard for more information. Please also read Wikipedia's image use policy. I hope this helps. -- /|\ 20:22, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Committed identity for dummies...

Hello! I want to publish my committed identity, but just can't find HOW! I have read all the pages, could generate without problems the SHA-512 key string, but I can't publish the darn thing! Could you please give me a simple step-by-step sequence like "go to XYZ page | paste this here and that there | press ENTER"... I've spent all the night on this thing and so far I earned only a headache... I don't mind the "look" of the outcome, colors etc... I just want to put an end to it!

Thank you so much! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Yvangr (talk • contribs) 22:52, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

After you've used a program or gone to a website like jsSHA to generate your hash, add the following code to your userpage: {{User committed identity|REPLACE ONLY THESE CAPITAL LETTERS WITH YOUR GENERATED HASH}}. Ideally, your hash is based on a phrase that some random hacker would not be likely to know or find out in case of an attack on your account; for example, "My name is Michael Kohler and I live in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany", or "I have a cocker spaniel named Farfel" as opposed to "My name is Xenon54". Xenon54 / talk / 23:00, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

(edit conflict)

I'm not sure why you want to publish your committed identity, when this is only your second edit on Wikipedia! Oh well... you need to create your user page User:Yvangr and use one of the following templates on it: User:Anomie/Userbox committed identity or Template:User committed identity - if you go to either of those links, there is documentation on using them -- /|\ 23:02, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

For example, mine is {{user committed identity|6f8761281e3399c6ee75a2279dc503714e6bd729|SHA-1}}, see the bottom of my user page. – ukexpat (talk) 23:03, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

how might a person distinguish between the prejudical and nonprejudical use of rhetorical devise can i get an example of both

Post your response to the following: How might a person distinguish between the prejudicial and nonprejudicial use of rhetorical devices? Provide an example of each and comment on the examples posted by your classmates. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.131.202.46 (talk) 22:57, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Please do your own homework.

Welcome to the Wikipedia Help desk. Your question appears to be a homework question. I apologize if this is a misevaluation, but it is our policy here to not 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 how to solve such problems.
Please attempt to solve the problem yourself first. You can search Wikipedia or search the Web.
If you need help with a specific part of your homework, the Reference desk can help you grasp the concept. Do not ask knowledge questions here, just those about using Wikipedia. (the "classmates" bit is a bit of a giveaway!) -- /|\ 23:02, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

January 6

Problem with Template:Infobox boxing match

I've noticed that the articles that transclude this template, namely a lot of boxing articles including Thrilla in Manila, wind up with a displayed {{{fight name}}} in them, which looks terrible. This is obviously supposed to display the fight name somehow, but as I don't know anything whatsoever about template coding and the creator hasn't edited in eight months I thought I'd come here. Thanks-- Glenfarclas (talk) 00:04, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Hmm, I think the problem was a Jan 2 edit, which I'll roll back. Glenfarclas (talk) 00:12, 6 January 2010 (UTC)
Resolved, sorry to bother y'all when I should have just studied the issue a little further. Glenfarclas (talk) 00:17, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

my bio was deleted

on the page Llantwit Major it states that current mayor is myself Cllr Russell Downe this then took you to a page of myself which got deleted when i look up the rules it says

Politicians Shortcut: WP:POLITICIAN Politicians who have held international, national or sub-national (statewide/provincewide) office, and members and former members of a national, state or provincial legislature and judges.[10] Major local political figures who have received significant press coverage.[7] Generally speaking, mayors are likely to meet this criterion, as are members of the main citywide government or council of a major metropolitan city. Just being an elected local official, or an unelected candidate for political office, does not guarantee notability, although such people can still be notable if they meet the primary notability criterion of "significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject of the article."

as i am a mayor should i not be allowed this page —Preceding unsigned comment added by Welshspencer (talk • contribs) 03:54, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

As you are a mayor, you are not allowed this page, because you should not create pages about yourself. You should also not direct others in your employ to create pages about you. You should wait patiently for someone who does not know you personally, and has no vested interest in your political career, to create a page about you. -- 04:03, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by Welshspencer (talk • contribs) 04:12, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Noesis article traffic statistics

What can I do to find out why Noesis gets so many views? It's currently the most popular philosophy article. It looks like this all started last march. [9]. Any suggestions on how to solve this mystery? -Pollinosisss (talk) 04:45, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

I was just looking into this a week ago, but at some August data. I believe I traced the curiosities to excessive page requests from mirror sites, but dang if I can remember how I figured that out. I'll put it on the list. For now, assume it was an auto-mirror being silly about copying pages, but do stay curious, maybe someone else here can offer more clues. Franamax (talk) 05:06, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

http://www.google.com/trends?q=Noesis+ :) Sorry to disappoint Andrew Gradman ^talk/_WP:Hornbook 05:16, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

copy to note

I stumbled on copy to note. How does one use this? Can you add to the note? How do you retrieve the note?

thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bigjoedog9 (talk • contribs) 04:54, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Help_desk"

Categories: Wikipedia help forums

Hidden categories: Pages with editnotices | Non-talk pages that are automatically signed

Questions for article: erez segal, an artical on internet developing country wikipidia, articte imagein, enwiki 20070206 problems, jemascola wikipedia, mediawiki jpg image google page suffix search, migdia chinea, migdia chinea reviews, erez segal, articte image'in

This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

IHS Europe: Infrared Heating Systems for Home and Business.