Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 January 30

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January 30[edit]

Adding a website to an article.[edit]

I tried to add.. http://www.carolinagourdsandseeds.com by editing a page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gourd and I saved it...but I am not sure it is the right way to do it. Is editing the proper way to do this?? Harry ````. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hhh3p (talkcontribs) 02:50, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How long ago was this?--KerotanLeave Me a Message Have a nice day :) 03:13, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I see that you were able to add the link, however I don’t think it meets Wikipedia’s guidelines for external links. I noticed that many of the other links also seem to fail the guidelines and I will note the article for later cleanup. —Travistalk 03:41, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Resolved - 20 unnecessary external links have been removed. • Anakin (contribscomplaints) 13:58, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Creating a page on wikipedia[edit]

I am in the process of opening my own business and i want to know if possible, could my company create a page on here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.82.218.95 (talk) 03:14, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You will need to first register an account, which has many benefits, including the ability to create articles. Once you have registered, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.
Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.
If you still think an article is appropriate, see Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. Cheers, Master of Puppets Call me MoP! 03:16, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The short answer is “yes,” but it’s probably not advisable. As a new company, I doubt that it would meet Wikipedia’s notability guidelines for companies. Then there is the matter of conflict of interest. If you read all of the links MoP and I have provided and still think that the article would be appropriate, go ahead and create it. The worst that can happen is that it may be deleted. Cheers —Travistalk 03:32, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I would say the short answer is “no.” Inasmuch as you are just now opening it, it is virtually impossible that your company could have the notability required for an article. --teb728 t c 04:08, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
This type of question comes up periodically on the Help desk. For some previous answers, see: Search Help desk for: wikicompany. --Teratornis (talk) 04:38, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
See also: Wikipedia:Business' FAQ - good all around answer to most questions of this sort. • Anakin (contribscomplaints) 14:00, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Messaging categories and a problem with pop-ups[edit]

  • I'd like to start an article which deals with a journalist in my hometown. Can/how do I send a message to other editors who are in the category of residents in my city to invite their contributions?
  • I've enabled pop-ups on my preferences but top-of-page and bottom-of-page nav. boxes only appeared on the first day of use. They don't appear now although everything else is working. Retarius | Talk 03:24, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hello there, welcome to the help desk! With regards to your proposed article; firstly, you'd need to establish notability of the person. Then, if you feel confident that they would satisfy notability criteria, I'd suggesting searching for a WikiProject for your hometown, or looking at all categories here. Then you would be able to individually contact each editor.
As for pop-ups, what do you mean by top-of-page and bottom-of-page navigation boxes? The ones that allow you to skip to the bottom and back up?
Hope that helps, Master of Puppets Call me MoP! 03:32, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, I was wondering whether there is a means of group-messaging the users who've placed themselves in a category (as with an Email to an address list) and yes, those are the boxes I mean. Retarius | Talk 03:48, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'm afraid there's no way from group messaging, though it might be possible with the autowiki browser, but I'm not sure usage of that tool would be necessary. Also, those boxes only appear on some pages (such as the help desk); hence, if you visit another page, they will disappear. Hope that helps, Master of Puppets Call me MoP! 04:06, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Ah well, one by one then. I got the idea from seeing things like Christmas cards and roll-call notices on talk pages. I thought that those sending them might be using such a facility. Thanks for your help. Retarius | Talk 04:25, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Nope, those are usually delivered by hand (so to speak), though sometimes they get bots to do it. Cheers, Master of Puppets Call me MoP! 04:29, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Can you erase or delete your own edits, allowing only the current version, of a page you created?[edit]

When a person creates a page, is it possiblle to delete edits by the original person (grammer errors, etc.)? How do you go back and list all edits as minor when the edits were a few edits back? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Winslow12 (talkcontribs) 03:59, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Past versions in the page's history are not removable barring the use of oversight, which should not be used for such purposes. Edits cannot be changed from minor to major or vice versa, either. Hope that helps, Master of Puppets Call me MoP! 04:05, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Another time, it is recommended to use preview and possibly correct problems before saving. You are currently the only substantial contributor to Jesse McCargar so it would be possible to request deletion of the whole article with {{db-author}} and then recreate it in a single edit (though that is not really what db-author is intended for). PrimeHunter (talk) 12:09, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

guatamala in the 1992 olympic marathon is incorrect, should be guam[edit]

it is incorrecdtly listed as Guatamala in the 1992 women's olympic martahon. I am Jen Allred and competed for Guam, not Guatamala. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Powlesj (talkcontribs) 04:35, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Feel free to be bold and go change it yourself! It may be useful to add a reference to a reliable source that backs up your change. --omtay38 05:09, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Went ahead and fixed this. diff 1 diff 2 diff3--TheDJ (talkcontribs) 07:35, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

how do i add a new article?[edit]

My Kruu (Muay Thai instructor) and i have created a new branch of martial art, and have been doing demos around the U.S.A on it, i would like to add information about it here on wikipedia, (so the new style can get a little More recognition) but i cant figure out how to make a new article, can you please help?


thanks alot

Wes —Preceding unsigned comment added by Xxc3lld4m4gexx (talkcontribs) 05:59, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

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 which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.
Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.
If you still think an article is appropriate, see Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. --Evan Seeds (talk)(contrib.) 06:39, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
If the style is as you say new and in need recognition, it is probably not notable enough to have an article. I’m sorry to say that Wikipedia is only for subjects that already have substantial recognition. --teb728 t c 08:35, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

how do i get a 6th and 7th book of moses[edit]

how do i get a 6th and 7th book of moses.please help me get one with all it necessities and i shall be greatful.

Do you mean Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses? --teb728 t c 09:59, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Possible legal concern[edit]

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

Relating to the above link, in the section marked 'History', there are two pars stating:

I am Editor of the Garstang Courier and Longridge News and can assure you that we are not in any legal battle with anyone, and I have never even heard of Fergus Fraser Bowman. I also know of no reason why The Times would be writing about my newspaper and, having checked with that office, they have no recollection of any such article or any reference to The Courier as 'fascist'. Incidentally, it has already been noted by another user that there is no referencing or verification for any of these statements. Clearly I consider this posting hosted on your website to be highly damaging to the reputation of my newspaper and defamatory to me as Editor. I intend editing this posting myself but consider it important that you are aware of this situation and can advise me on the action you are taking.

Richard Machin, Editor, Garstang Courier/Longridge News — Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.70.52.62 (talk) 10:32, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Probably vandalism by some user, I'll see if I can track it down. --TheDJ (talkcontribs) 11:39, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I saw you removed the edit already. That is the appropriate action and you are always welcomed to make such changes. The vandalism (specifically these edits) was done by IP address 172.143.108.99. On January 23rd 9PM UTC and January 24th 4PM UTC. Hope this helps you. --TheDJ (talkcontribs) 11:45, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Seems that in the mean time the edits were oversighted as well. --TheDJ (talkcontribs) 11:48, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I have deleted the versions with the claims from the article history. That means only administrators can see them. If you also want them hidden from administrators so only a few people with oversight permission can see them then you can make a request at Wikipedia:Requests for oversight or ask me to do it. But your copy here is much more visible than the currently deleted versions. If you want to avoid public discussion of such a problem another time then see Wikipedia:Contact us/Article problem/Factual error (from enterprise) and Wikipedia:Requests for oversight. I will watch the article and remove the claims if they reappear. The article can be protected if it should happen repeatedly. It was added January 23 by an unregistered editor who has not edited since with that IP address which may have been dynamic. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:56, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

installation[edit]

Hi all i am not able to install windows vista could you help me? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.200.95.130 (talk) 11:45, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This helpdesk provides assistance to users who have trouble using Wikipedia. If you have a problem with Windows, I suggest calling Microsoft support, visiting a local computer store or asking a friend with some computer skills for assistance. --TheDJ (talkcontribs) 11:53, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
If you have a more specific question then: Have you tried the Computing 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. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:01, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wife died in July 2007, was filing joint return?[edit]

How do I fill out a Georgia tax return jointly when my wife has passed? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.6.100.226 (talk) 12:34, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hello there, welcome to the help desk! Please consider asking at the reference desk, which is for questions about knowledge; the help desk is for questions about using Wikipedia. See here for the reference desk; Wikipedia:Reference desk. Thanks! Master of Puppets Call me MoP! 12:37, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Note that Wikipedia does not give legal opinions. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:55, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'm sorry for your loss, and hopeful that we can help answer your question. You are at the Wikipedia helpdesk. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia with more than two million articles. You may have found this site while searching for tax information, but we are not specialists on Georgia tax. Here in Wikipedia, we have a number of volunteers who try to answer questions in a number of different areas. The volunteers who work here at the help desk answer questions about how to use the Wikipedia encyclopedia itself. Several different sets of volunteers answer questions about more general topics at the reference desk. The volunteers at the "miscellaneous desk" are probably best able to help: click on the blue link. -Arch dude (talk) 01:06, 31 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

ADD Article[edit]

I have added an article but has been erased automatically, why can I not add a company with its history on the WIKI,

PLease inform me how do I add some companies and brands with their history and foundation on WIKI

Thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by Noxelag (talkcontribs) 13:44, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Looking at the history of the article you created, it didn't meet our requirements for notability. For more information on what makes companies notable, please see: WP:CORP. Jauerbackdude?/dude. 13:50, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict)If the company is notable enough, a company can have an article, it is also important to remember to make sure that the article reads does not read like an advertisement, and that it isn't a copy and paste job from the companies website. Also I am assuming here that your related to the company in question, so I would advise that you don't make the article, because you run the risk of having the neutrality of the article affected by your point of view. besides if you company is big enought, like Google or Metacritic, this shouldn't be a problem.--KerotanLeave Me a Message Have a nice day :) 13:53, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I have replaced "reads" with "does not read" in Kerotan's comment. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:09, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Changing title of an article undergoing AfD[edit]

If an article has been listed for AfD, but its title is wrong, is it possible to change the title by "moving" the article, or would that confuse the links to the AfD process? JohnCD (talk) 14:38, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can move the article, and a redirect from the old title will be created automatically. But that won't affect the other links at the top of the AfD (history, logs, etc.), which will then be pointing to the redirect. It might be better to wait until the AfD discussion is concluded to keep things consistent, but if you choose to rename it now, I'd recommend noting the change clearly as a comment in the discussion to reduce confusion. • Anakin (contribscomplaints) 14:55, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Company Logo in an article[edit]

Hello,

I have to write an article about the company I work for. I would like to add the company logo and I do not know how to proceed. Wikipedia explains that a non free logo or a copyrighted can be upload but I do not find how. I already write the article and by adding the logo, the article has been removed a few days later.

Would you please inform me how to proceed to add the logo in the article.

(the page is Knauf USG Systems)

Thanks in advance for your help.

Best regards

--- —Preceding unsigned comment added by Leonard.kleiber (talkcontribs) 14:49, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'd be glad to help you select the correct license. However, Wikipedia's very strict image fair use policy requires that all copyrighted media actually be used in the article. So you need to have the article first. I note from the logs that the Knauf USG Systems article was deleted on January 22, according to the criteria for speedy deletion, that the article did not assert the significance of the company; that is, why an article should be about it in the encyclopedia. I'd recommend as a first step that you read Wikipedia:Why was my page deleted, and more specifically, the notability guidelines for companies, the Business' FAQ and conflict of interest guidelines. If after reading those pages carefully you still think an article is appropriate, please recreate it, citing to reliable, independent sources, and then ask again about the logo, either here on the general help desk or at the Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. Hope these links will help explain things. Any more questions feel free to ask again. • Anakin (contribscomplaints) 15:07, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What happened to free, open content encyclopedia, Wikipedia?[edit]

Since Oct 2007 I have been working on an biographical article of a former military man titled Leo J. Meyer published on the free, open content encyclopedia, Wikipedia. In January 2008 Wiki administrators in the US felt that the subject was not notable and removed the article. It was published in good faith intending to meet WP free and open content rules. Strangely enough an administrator in the UK thought the subject was notable enough. What happened to: free, open content encyclopedia, Wikipedia? I would rather have my article on Wikipedia than some other place. Meyerj (talk) 14:50, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It is still there, it just doesn't allow every topic anymore. For a large part due to the media's attention to "quality" vs. junk , the inclusion requirements are becoming more stringent every day. I would support bringing this article back. --TheDJ (talkcontribs) 15:12, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
BTW. it would really help if there was a book that mentioned him in a bit of detail, and if you could get several other editors involved in the writing process. Writing on subjects to which you are related is always a difficult thing to do because its easy to fall into the pitfalls of "original research" and "opinionated editing". --TheDJ (talkcontribs) 15:16, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I wonder how many other people who published articles in good faith and made financial contributions to the project because they believed in the free, open content encyclopedia aspect have since found there information removed. I am not implying paying to publish, but rather supporting the concept and learning that the concept has changed. Meyerj (talk) 18:44, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'm sorry to hear your article got deleted. As I'm not an administrator I cannot review the deleted text to check whether it satisfied Wikipedia's guidelines. But some general links to help you are Wikipedia:Why was my page deleted? and Wikipedia:Notability (people). The deletion discussion was not unanimous or absolute, so if you feel the outcome was wrong, I'd recommend taking it to Wikipedia:Deletion review, stating clearly why you feel the article should be restored. It might not be absolutely non-notable, perhaps just needing a bit of tweaking, or additional references to assert significance. Failing that, there are other web sites in the world, such as http://www.wikibios.com/, which I'm sure would gladly host the article, or you could publish the biography on a personal web site, where you would have complete control over all the content (unlike a wiki). • Anakin (contribscomplaints) 15:20, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Here's what happened to "free, open content encyclopedia": WP:NOT. Wikipedia in its current design misleads some fraction of new users who see the positive results of the process that builds Wikipedia, without noticing the dark side (the stupefyingly complex rules and their enforcement). That's because the superficial face of Wikipedia (the things a new user sees first) appear to be very wonderful and encouraging. Wikipedia fires the newcomer's imagination, and stimulates ideas to run wild, without doing much to insure the new user understands the rules before diving in. The result is lots of people asking: Why was my article deleted? (In my opinion, if even one user still needs to ask that question, we should not feel too proud of ourselves.) If nothing else, hopefully your unpleasant experience with Wikipedia will teach you to question your initial impression of online sites, and to seek some sort of confirmation from a knowledgeable human before spending many hours guided only by your initial assumptions based on at best a very fragmentary investigation. As to what to do next, see WP:BIO for our notability guidelines for biography articles. The administrator who deleted your article probably does not know whether Mr. Meyer is or isn't notable enough; rather, the administrator is saying you did not show him to be notable enough. If you can do that, then he can have an article here. If not, then you can try another wiki such as WikiBios. --Teratornis (talk) 15:22, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
There are 6 billion people on this planet. Not every one of us can have a Wikipedia article about them. Your article did not establish sufficient notability to justify an article on this particular person. (U.S. v. U.K. had nothing to do with it.) --Orange Mike | Talk 15:32, 30 January 2008 (UTC) (proud son of a WW2 combat veteran and medal recipient)[reply]
Your attitude is lacking severly orange mike. are you actually implying and infering that your idea of heirarchical importance are better than anyone elses? Are you inferring that your ideas and views are superior? such arrogance. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.210.96.173 (talk) 16:11, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Actually no, what he was stating were simple facts. I agree with those facts as well. However that does not mean that I do not consider our current set of rules as becoming too strict. You really should not be offended if people don't respond in full essays with reasoning, but with short blunt remarks. --TheDJ (talkcontribs) 16:15, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Not that I really want to be part of your debate, but to clarify for orange mike, Europeans are much more mindful and respectful of their military and military history. American culture pooh-poohs its military unless John Wayne is in the picture. But to enlighten all: Soldiers who earned one Combat Infantry Badge in WWII (meeting the requirements for it) are bigger heroes than both Douglas MacArthur and Jimmy Doolittle who both were awarded the Medal of Honor in WWII. (In Doolittle’s case why just him when all of his men did the exact same thing) Soldiers who stayed with their Army (and the pay wasn’t all that good) and fought in subsequent conflicts that meet the criteria set forth by the Department of the Army and earned multiple combat badges are actually remarkable. The CIB has been, historically, the only badge worn higher than the Medal of Honor ribbon. Today American soldiers who are not infantry can receive an equally important combat medical badge or the newest, the combat action badge. There are regulations authorizing only four awards of the CIB, CMB and CAB. Of the first there has never been a 4th awarded and only 303 men, out of millions who served, have received the 3rd award. That 303 dates from the award’s inception of DEC 1941 up to Dec 2007. For the same period in Army history (note I said Army) there have been 575 Medals of Honor awarded and not all of them have received the CIB. The bottom line is that that small group of “heroes” are more often than not held with higher esteem by fellow soldiers than those awarded the MoH, and Americans in general don’t know that. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 147.241.0.2 (talk) 17:54, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Ooh, of course the reason why the article was deleted must either be prejudice or stupidity, it couldn't possibly have anything to do with Wikipedia's requirements for notability and verifiability. Are we just supposed to take the word of someone that the person they're writing about is notable without the author providing any proof of the claims? And please note that not everybody who participated at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Leo J. Meyer is an admin. If you feel that you can provide reliable sources and verifiable claims of notability, then you can nominate the article at WP:DRV for a discussion as to whether or not the article should be undeleted. Corvus cornixtalk 19:49, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I think for once I'm speechless at the incredible length a vandal disparges the United States. I truly don't understand the anonymous user's comments, not can I begin to follow as he states no evidence of his claims. I for one would sternly content that the American population is proud of its military, and its military history, greatly due in part through our patriotism, and because of the immense numbers of friends and family serving in the US military. My brother currently at West Point, my uncle, grandfather, and great grandfather all served in the Marines. My roommate's mother served for a proud 20+ years in the Navy. I'm all atonishment at the lack of mutual respect and simple tolerance towards the United States, and especially when it flies in the face of hundreds of thousands of men and women who do so much for their country. Do you think that I enjoy the fact that my oldest, and dearest brother, the one who always managed to make my family laugh, or know just what to do what I felt terrible will be sent overseas? And in all possibility die from the foolishness and misery caused by war? That is sacriface. I could not do it. God, how can you be so...so apathetic and insulting to that? Can anyone truly? Do you not distinguish between the adminstration and the soldiers themselves? I'm disgusted, body and soul at you sir. We should not feed the trolls but I cannot let this mockery stand.
As for the claim that Americans do not value the CIB award is in and of itself a contradiction -- Americans value the service and awards of any soldier, and for any term. The issue is that the general populace is not aware of the CIB, whereas the Medal of Honor is well known as most recent recipiants were killed in action to recieve the award, in a (terrible) sense MOH recipiants have paid the ultimate price for this distinction. This connotation in the public's mind simply does not exist for CIBs. Zidel333 (talk) 20:43, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I repeat, while I am myself a Quaker, I am also the proud son of a U.S. combat infantryman, a fully-disabled veteran of World War 2, and an enlisted man (a class of soldier of whom I am always more respectful than I am officers). None of this is even remotely relevant to the simple fact that the article which has been deleted failed to establish to the satisfaction of the involved editors that the subject was notable, according to the standards we have set up here. If there is a new article created about this man (genuinely new, not a recreation of the deleted one), preferably by somebody without a conflict of interest, the new article will be judged on its merits. --Orange Mike | Talk 21:01, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Help starting a page[edit]

how do i start a pge of my own. and why wont it let me edit the Alex Ovechkin pageu —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hrendip (talkcontribs) 14:56, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Alex Ovechkin is currently semi-protected, which means that only accounts older than four days can edit it. Please read Wikipedia:Protection policy for more info. GlassCobra 15:17, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
As for 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 which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.
Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content.
If you still think an article is appropriate, see Wikipedia:Your first article and 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. • Anakin (contribscomplaints) 15:25, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Why is my page not up?[edit]

I have been trying to put up my page but it keeps saying that something is wrong with it.. i keep looking to see what it is i did wrong but can not find it on your pages... please get back with me.. Muscoot Farm is the page! JonathonMuscoot (talk) 15:53, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It seems like the article was deleted, most likely due to concerns that the subject matter did not conform to basic Notability concerns. If you feel that this deletion is misplaced, you should try to find an administrator and discuss it with them. As an aside, your user page seems to be an extensive article on the article in question; 1) this is not allowed per se by User Page Guidelines that are currently enforced by the Wikipedia community, and 2) if there is no concerns with Conflict of Interest. Cheers! Zidel333 (talk) 16:29, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Zidel333, I have fixed several broken links in your reply. It's WP, not W. • Anakin (contribscomplaints) 18:34, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I wondered why the links were light blue instead of dark.... Thanks Anakin. :) Zidel333 (talk) 20:19, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

speedy deletion expedience that is nearly inhuman![edit]

I am impressed! An admin/sysop here seems to be able to read hundreds of articles in mere minutes, find them lacking and delete them speedily with half references. Is this the standard? One of the articles which was mine had been up for less than one day and no notice was sent of the deletion, the other had been up for the better part of a year and had been helped with and massaged by another admin here. I can only imagine how horrified the hundreds of other writers and editors must feel after they get taken out in this shotgun approach to things. I can understand how wiki administering can be trying, but if there is so much vitriol that deletions are done in such a frenzy, I wonder if some of the people who administer these pages should actually be doing it at all! Regards - A concerned reader and writer —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.210.96.173 (talk) 16:08, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You are likely on a dynamic IP address. You should really register in order to make sure that you get deletion notifications. If you edit as an unregistered IP address there is a good chance you will miss such a message. (also there are 3000 admins and bots looking at edits and selecting sets of edits that are "suspicious", evaluating etc. not 1 )--TheDJ (talkcontribs) 16:19, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

--99.224.75.100 (talk) 16:36, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The "anon" does appear to have a username, just didn't log in. Instead of requesting a deletion review, he is complaining here that his page was deleted. The nomination for speedy deletion was stopped because he refuted it here. After reading his comments, a series of editors nominated it for deletion. It was deleted. He continues to complain that WP:BIO doesn't address the notability of "entrepreneurs". -- kainaw 17:23, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Kainaw, how did you determine that that was the article that the anon is talking about? That AfD discussion was over a year ago, and pretty obviously wasn't up for "less than one day". Corvus cornixtalk 19:52, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
If you look at the anon's contributions, he has signed multiple posts manually using a registered username. Checking that user's contributions reveals the apparent article at issue that Kainaw cites.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:03, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Ah. Thanks. Corvus cornixtalk 03:28, 31 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Individual pageview statistics...[edit]

How can I get statistics on the page views (per day, week, month, year etc.) for an individual wikipedia article?

Thank you for answering,

NazarK (talk) 17:32, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See this entry on the FAQ. Best regards. --omtay38 17:33, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Go to stats.grok.se and enter your article title. henriktalk 17:57, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Breakdown of an individual's edits by prefix[edit]

I think there's a tool that partly does what I want, but can't find it, and in any case I'm hoping there's one out there that does all of what I want.

I'd love to be able to see what edits I made to a particular prefix; not just a particular namespace, but a prefix within that namespace. For example, if I want a quick way to see what edits I've made to AfD, I'd like to be able to enter "Barneca" in one box, and "Wikipedia:Articles for Deletion" in another box, and get a list of:

Sort of like the offspring of a marriage between Special:Prefixindex and Special:Contributions.

If no such thing exists, I'd settle for a linked alphabetized list of all the articles I've edited. Currently, the only way I can think of to do this is look at my contributions filtered by namespace, import them into Excel, and sort them by page name. But then I can't click on each link, I have to go into the history of each article to find my edit. So I'm left with scanning my contrib list myself, and trying to makes sure I catch them all.

Any tools that can help? Thanks! --barneca (talk) 17:59, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If there was such a tool, it would be at Wikipedia:WikiProject edit counters, although I'm not aware of one which does specifically what you're saying. • Anakin (contribscomplaints) 19:06, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. A quick look thru all of them doesn't lead me to what I'm looking for. Oh well, back to Excel. --barneca (talk) 22:17, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Archiving[edit]

Simple question, with a probable simple answer: How do I archive my talk page? It's gotten so big that it's spilling out over my borders. Thanks -- Matthew Edwards | talk | Contribs 17:59, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There are three different ways to do it, each with their own benefits and drawbacks. Or, you could get a bot to do it (one example is User:MiszaBot III, I beleive there are others} automatically. If you try wading thru WP:ARCHIVE, it should answer most of your questions, and you can always come back here with a more targetted question if something's still unclear. --barneca (talk) 18:05, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks! -- Matthew Edwards | talk | Contribs 18:17, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I would suggest doing it manually, since bot maintainers tend to disappear every so often. Corvus cornixtalk 19:53, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Linking to categories[edit]

Why can't I link to a category page in a talk page? -- Matthew Edwards | talk | Contribs 18:16, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can, like this: [[:category:my category]] which shows up like this: category:my category. Martijn Hoekstra (talk) 18:24, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thankyou! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Matthewedwards (talkcontribs) 18:29, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]


P2P wikipedia comunity[edit]

will i be allowed/able to set up a special wikipedia page which will basically be a community of file sharing program (FSP) users that could leave their IP addresses and which songs,artists, genres etc that they like and then P2P FSP can 'link' with them and get, mainly, music from them........could i do this......what about on my user page.....thanks, --81.79.201.21 (talk) 18:26, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a file sharing site. henriktalk 18:32, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Besides which what you are talking about is illegal. • Anakin (contribscomplaints) 19:05, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Wikipedia is very strict about copyright laws. Even if what you were talking about were possible, to attempt to do so would get you blocked, probably indefinitely. I'd suggest you stop doing it anyway, because as mentioned, it is illegal and could easily get you in trouble with local authorities, especially if you keep talking about it like this. Hersfold (t/a/c) 22:02, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

FAQ not working[edit]

How do I submit an article to Wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alanforray (talkcontribs) 18:52, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

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 which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.
Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.
If you still think an article is appropriate, see Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. • Anakin (contribscomplaints) 19:02, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]


posting[edit]

where do i find the directions on how to post a new topic in wiki? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thedevicesinshift (talkcontribs) 19:18, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I left a welcome message on your talk page that includes some links that should get you started. However, I believe WP:ARTICLE is the place you're interested in right now. Jauerbackdude?/dude. 20:02, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]


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 which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.
Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.
If you still think an article is appropriate, see Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. Jauerbackdude?/dude. 20:05, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Problem creating an account[edit]

I created an account with a username of MarkJ, which is the only reasonable one to use for my name. I wrote that, my password, and my e-mail address (<email removed>) down as I entered them (with the password having been entered twice when I created the account). However, when I try to log in I get "Incorrect password or confirmation code entered." If I click on "E-mail new password," I get the message "Error sending mail: There is no e-mail address recorded for user 'MarkJ'." When I try to create an account again, I get "Username entered already in use." So the system has grabbed my username, but not my password or my e-mail address, and there is no way to find out what it thinks my password might be since it thinks that I don't have an e-mail address. Is there some way to delete my username, so I can start creating an account from scratch again? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.22.236.230 (talk) 19:21, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

User:MarkJ was editing in 2005, so you probably didn't create that account. You might get somebody to allow you to WP:USURP the acount, since it has only ever made one edit. Corvus cornixtalk 19:54, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, the IP may have created that account, as they have edited since 2003. --The Helpful One 20:12, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
If you mistyped the name of the account on creation, but you know roughly when you created it, you might have some luck looking through the user creation log. Bovlb (talk) 22:00, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Subpage[edit]

Am i alright creating this User:Dust Rider/NightWatch it's not violating any rules and it's suppose to be helping Wikipedia. →Dust Rider 19:57, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't really see any point to it, to be honest. There seem to be no features to differentiate it from the CVU. GlassCobra 20:20, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Shall i reword it or have it erased. →Dust Rider 20:21, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It doesn't go against Wikipedia user page policy if that's what you mean, which allows for a surprising bit of freedom. I'm not sure how your group is distinct from the general anti-vandalism force though. • Anakin (contribscomplaints) 20:30, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How does one link to a Wikipedia page?[edit]

I am trying to send a link in an email to a wikipedia page. How do I create the link in the body of the email? Thank you. 20:55, 30 January 2008 (UTC)ArtInfo3 (talk) 20:55, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Go to the article's page. Copy the URL of the article from the address bar in your browser; paste it into the e-mail. --Orange Mike | Talk 21:03, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
If you want the link to be to the same page version as you see now then click "Permanent link" in the toolbox to the left before copying the URL. If you want to make a HTML e-mail then the details depend on the used program. If you make a plain text e-mail with a URL then it depends on the receivers mail client whether they can click it as a link or have to copy the URL to their browser. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:48, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Infobox on the left side of page?[edit]

Is there a way to put a infobox on the left side of the page. All I can seen to do, is put on the right side. Please respond. Thanks DJS --DJS24 (talk) 21:53, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, the "infobox" table class has the table on the right side by default, and general convention is to keep the infobox on the right, as this helps avoid formatting issues with the article. There is a way, but we'd prefer you didn't. May I ask which article you are seeking to do this in? Hersfold (t/a/c) 21:57, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It's for the WikiProject Xbox 360, I'm looking to have the Xbox 360 box on the left side, with the old xbox on the right side, with pictures of each in the middle. This would be put of a console section. --DJS24 (talk) 22:07, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The link should be Wikipedia:WikiProject Xbox 360. Do you mean an infobox on that page or on an article? The design of a WikiProject page doesn't seem important to the encyclopedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:39, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Down near the Participants section are infoboxes for each of the two Xbox consoles. XENON54 | talk | who? 22:41, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I know there's boxes down there, I designed the page. I'm looking to put a "Console" section on that page, where the Xbox 360 infobox is on the left and the old Xbox infobox is on the right, with two pictures of them in the middle. PrimeHunter, the page is important to me, as I'm the one making it. --DJS24 (talk) 23:10, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Ok, since it's not for an article I'll tell you. What is supposed to work is adding align="left" to the top of the table, next to the infobox declaration. For some reason, however, that isn't working; the infobox class is still overriding the local alignment setting, despite everything that is said at Help:Table. So, what you can do instead is force it to work by nesting it within a table. It won't be the most elegant solution (and in fact it's quite ugly), but it'll probably work best for what you're apparently planning anyway, and is in fact the only thing that will work as far as I can tell. Fortunately, people don't generally edit the main WikiProject page too much, so you should be ok. The code you need is posted below. Enjoy. Hersfold (t/a/c) 01:00, 31 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]


This is your left infobox
blah blah
blah blah

Here go all your pictures and whatnot.

This is your right infobox
blah blah
blah blah


Organise User Talk Page[edit]

Hello. I'm having trouble getting something to work on my User Talk Page. I would like the archive box to the right (you can't miss it) to stay there and I would like to insert this to the left. Next, the TOC would be in the center and they would be able to scroll up and down. Here is a link where you can edit my user talk page. Thanks for your help! - Milk's Favorite Cookie 22:06, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I can take a look at it, although for future reference, the Help Desk is for questions about using Wikipedia, not really userspace design. ;-) Hersfold (t/a/c) 00:45, 31 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

American Stroke Foundation[edit]

I received the following message when I attempted to add The American Stroke Foundation as a link to the article on stroke. The American Stroke Foundation is in fact a national organization. The offices are in the Kansas City metro area, however, the information and education is perfomed on a nationwide basis.

Thanks

"Welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Unfortunately, your recent addition of a link to a Kansas City-area nonprofit organization was removed. Wikipedia is a worldwide encyclopedia, and links to purely local organizations are strongly discouraged under the official external links policy. I would like to suggest that you read the external links policy before adding any more links to articles. Here are some other pages that you might find helpful:..." —Preceding unsigned comment added by Partagasx (talkcontribs) 22:46, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

For a different perspective on this organization, editors might want to see the ASF website, which says, "We are a local Kansas City non-profit organization that provides post-rehabilitative services to stroke survivors"[1] (emphasis added). They offer several classes and a monthly lecture, but these services are only available in person at their two rehab centers, which are seven miles (~10 km) apart in the same metropolitan area. For all I know, they may answer the occasional e-mail question, and they do provide a few short pages of basic information on their website, but there is no evidence on the proposed website that the inclusion of their website complies with WP:EL, and I begin to wonder whether the insistence on its inclusion actually has more to do with the big red letters on the main page: "Please consider a tax-deductible gift to fund programs and activities at ASF."[2] Perhaps my original note to the new editor should have also included a link to the conflicts of interest policy. WhatamIdoing (talk) 23:10, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Email[edit]

How do I add an email address to one of my pages so that the person my click on it and go to their email sender —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.75.163.99 (talk) 23:13, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure that you can do that on Wikipedia. However, one of the benefits of registering an account is the ability to associate an e-mail address with your account and receive e-mails from other Wikipedians. XENON54 | talk | who? 23:32, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Just type it in with the text "mailto:" in front of it. e.g., mailto:address@example.com. You can hide the mailto part if you want. E.g., [mailto:address@example.com address@example.com] in the edit box displays as: address@example.comAnakin (contribscomplaints) 00:09, 31 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]