User:Toploftical/Useful Techniques



To close current tab in Chrome: ⌘-w To go to the next tab in Chrome: ⌘-Option-Right arrow To go to the previous tab in Chrome: ⌘-Option-Left arrow To save the edits on current page: Option-Control-S

Access key on my Mac is Ctrl-Option



adding page range to names ref
This adds a page number to a footnote.

How to find infobox documentation
To find the page for say, Infobox knot, just type Template:Infobox knot in the Search Box

Editor who knows a lot about sourcing and fights Nazi revisionism

 * Ksenia Coffman

Russian date confusion gregorian vs old style - OS & NS

 * example HERE

Citing Google Books

 * Wikipedia citation tool for Google Books

The Dublin University calendar (how to use in a ref)
Example page Dennis W. Sciama. Use the format:

Dublinensis or Burtchaell and Sadleir (how to use in a ref)
Example page Henry Dabzac Use the format:

List of all pages containing or starting with XXX

 * All pages with titles beginning with XXX
 * All pages with titles containing XXX

Family tree diagrams

 * Catherine Courtney, Baroness Courtney of Penwith
 * Dennis Brain

Standard format examples for the External links section

 * Richard Kenneth Guy at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
 * Personal web page

Brackets and other wiki markup characters
Use the nowiki contstruction. The word TEXT is in brackets here: [ TEXT ]

Nowrap
275 = 1 + 112 + 162

Multiple Page moves template
Template is at Requested moves
 * Example from history:
 * {subst:requested move


 * new1 = Gathering 4 Gardner
 * current2 = Gathering 4 Gardner
 * new2 = Gathering 4 Gardner, Inc.
 * reason = In consultation with associates of Martin Gardner, it has been agreed that we should change the name of the page Gathering 4 Gardner, Inc. to the simpler and less legalistic name Gathering 4 Gardner. The problem is that the latter name is a redirect page to the first name. To be explicit: We want to have the second name be the name of the article, and the first name to be a redirect to it. }}

Nice and helpful WP editors

 * User:Wcherowi
 * User:Prhartcom
 * User:Scott Tillinghast, Houston TX - sporadic group articles

How to use endnotes
See Martin Gardner bibliography for a perfect use of endnotes

Interlanguage links

 * Linking to other language Wikipedias or WP:WIKIDATA

Templates

 * Table of Templates
 * Template:Citation
 * Template:cleanup
 * Template:Merge
 * Template:Stub
 * Template:Expand French
 * Theatre templates
 * Template:Infobox theatre
 * Template:Infobox play
 * Template:Infobox writer
 * Template:Infobox person
 * Template:Multiple columns
 * Template:Userbox

Math formula example with fractions, greek letters, and square roots
If we let σ = 1⁄2(m$a$+m$b$+m$c$) the area A of a triangle can be expressed in terms of the medians by
 * A = $4/3$$\sqrt{σ (1 - ma) (1 - mb) (1 - mc) }$.

Pages associated with a particular user
Assume the user name is foobarnix. To see all pages associated with this user type the following into the search box: Special:PrefixIndex/User:Foobarnix

Deleting Pages

 * ''If you wish to delete your own page, tag the top of the page with db-u1, and an administrator will delete it for you.
 * Also see Deletion of user pages

More useful techniques

 * Extended image syntax gives parameters for File: syntax
 * Force next paragraph to begin at left margin below any figures: See example in Alphamagic square
 * search for all pages that begin with... at All pages with prefix
 * book citation format Sylvan Barnet
 * Notes and Sources formatting of citations Le Boeuf sur le Toit (cabaret)
 * Infobox person Stephen Henry Hobhouse
 * Infobox park with photo Ramsden Park
 * Infobox using a jpg image Marc Culler
 * great math notation examples Formal power series
 * example of redirect page Intermezzo (play)
 * example of disambiguation page Independence Park or CAST
 * example of About template Judith (play)
 * file in Wikimedia Commons that I created http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Little_Sugar_Creek_Greenway_at_4th_Street.jpg

Some useful links and the red dot

 * Paris taskforce talk page
 * Cocteau O Les six O Harvey Milk O Le bœuf sur le toit

How to use OCLC in references

 * reference that doesn't recognize OCLC
 * reference that does recognize OCLC
 * only the OCLC matters in this template

How to create a citation for an old NY Times article

 * smallpox eradication reference


 * Here is how I had the citation

ISBN template
ISBN 0226112489

Chicago manual of style
Recommended book citation format is
 * last-name, first-name, title, place-of-pub, publisher, year-of-pub, ISBN ####
 * Cohen, Robert, Giraudoux, Three Faces of Destiny, p. 65, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1968, ISBN 0226112489

What is a directory site?
A web directory is normally a site dedicated to one subject or region. Its sole purpose is to bring together a bunch of sites in one catagory to make searching far easier for a surfer. There are directories that list more than one catagory but these take time to build.



Math markup language

 * 1) For very good examples of math expressions, see Formal power series
 * 2) $$f_0=0$$
 * 3) $$\N\,\Z\;\Q\ \R\quad\C$$
 * 4) $$A = 1 - 3x + 5x^2 - 7x^3 + 9x^4 - 11x^5 + \cdots.$$
 * 5) $$O\!\!\!|$$

Interesting External Refs

 * Extremely interesting set of External references at We Live in Public
 * also, for film reviews, try Metacritic

Wikilove
To use WikiLove, go to a user's talk page, move your mouse over the heart icon in the tab menu and choose which award or gift you would like to give. Follow the instructions from there. For more info on Wikilove script, go to User:Kaldari/wikilove

Official website template

 * Use to standardize web sites

Search engines

 * A fantastically useful search engine from Australian government at Trove
 * Also see How to really find stuff with Google below

How to find all user subpages

 * 1) go to the user page:  e.g. User:foobarnix
 * 2) click User contributions in the Toolbox
 * 3) click Subpages at the bottom of that page

Wikipedia blamer
WikiBlame

Greek Islands
Folegandros Thasos Ios Sikinos Santorini Mykonos Corfu

Colon trick
If you are creating a draft of a page and mention a link like "Category:Theatres in Paris", you need to prefix it with a colon (the colon shows up in the edit box) in order to keep the page from appearing in the category and also make a link to the category page appear in the text instead of at the bottom of the page. (This is easy to forget.) See Help:Colon trick for more info.

Character codes used in Wikipedia
A numeric character reference refers to a character by its Universal Character Set/Unicode code point, and uses the format &xxxx; Examples include quot &quot; amp &amp;  lt &lt;  gt &gt;  plusmn &plusmn;  tilde &tilde;  ndash –  mdash &mdash;  rArr &rArr;  hArr &hArr;  equiv &equiv;  and clubs &clubs;. See table of character codes for the complete list.

Wiki markup language
There is a teriffic page at Help:Wiki markup

Here is an example of how to ignore Wiki markup by using the "pre" tag The line break is ignored Italics and bolding are ignored Indentation and extra    space is preserved Colors are ignored If you want to do all this without the dotted lines, see tag WYSIWYG
 * bullets don't work
 * 1) numbered lines don't work

Date and time

 * My preferred date format: 24 August 2010
 * Add 8 hours to local time to get UTC time
 * Subtract 8 hours from UTC time to get local time.

Page hit counter
There is a third party site, not maintained by Wikipedia, which currently allows you to view page hit counts since December 2007. Toplists are available here though these might not be current.

Good footnoting
For examples of how to do really good footnotes, see the article Harvey Milk. It was a featured article. It has multiple footnotes to different pages of the same source.

How to link to a section of an article
Use a number sign to link to the section. Here is an example: Ondine plot summary which is linked by typing Ondine (play)#Plot summary

Example of a redirect page
see Intermezzo (play)

How to get a list of user contributions

 * Go to the the page Special:Contributions. It is a special page.
 * Type in the name of the user whose contributions you want to see and then click the Search button.
 * You are now on a page with the contributions of that user.
 * At the bottom of that page you can choose further options such as Articles created or Edit count.

Doublestruck or Hollow math font
$$\mathbb{A}$$ $$\mathbb{C}$$  $$\mathbb{Q}$$  $$\mathbb{R}$$  $$\mathbb{Z}$$

Big and small and colored text

 * This is big text, and this is really big text
 * This is small text, and this is really small text
 * The colors of the spectrum are red orange yellow green blue and violet.
 * A comprehensive list of colors can be found at List of colors.

Lists and tables

 * List styles including bullet lists and numbered lists
 * simple table with column headings Polyomino
 * simple table alphamagic square
 * 4 column list using div col La Cigale
 * simple hidden lists Carolina Actors Studio Theatre


 * This is how to do a numbered list
 * 1) Put on socks
 * 2) Put on shoes
 * 3) Tie shoes
 * 4) Stand up


 * 1) this item starts a now list because of an empty line

Multiple columns

 * For example of using multiple columns, see La Cigale or Links section below.
 * For example of automatic multiple col division, see Suso Cecchi d'Amico.

Inserting horizontal space
This line contains the coding { { pad|4.5em } } where the space is.

How to show all articles worked on by a particular Wikipedia editor

 * go to the user page for the editer in question; e.g., User:foobarnix
 * Open the Toolbox menu tab on the left side of the page
 * Click User contributions

Translated pages
For an example of how to document the fact that a page is a translation, see the talk page of Electra.

How to create a new personal sandbox

 * 1) Go into edit mode on my user page
 * 2) Type new page name in double brackets *[[Testpage4]
 * 3) Save the edit
 * 4) The new page name will now appear in red
 * 5) Just click on the new (red) page name to create it

Example of block quote
A specific solution using this "Common Heritage of Mankind" idea was proposed by the 19th century American political economist Henry George in his 1879 book Progress and Poverty where he wrote: "Deduction and induction have brought us to the same truth—that the unequal ownership of land necessitates the unequal distribution of wealth. And as in the nature of things unequal ownership of land is inseparable from the recognition of individual property in land, it necessarily follows that the only remedy for the unjust distribution of wealth is in making land common property."

Henry George believed that this common ownership of land, and hence a solution to the tragedy of the commons, could be accomplished through a single tax on land.

IBDB profile in play infobox

 * Using iobdb template

How to really find stuff with Google
The Wikipedia search engine is not very good. But Google Advanced search is excellent and you can restrict it to search within a domain. For example:
 * Ondine Giraudoux site:en.wikipedia.org will find all Ondine references within English Wikipedia
 * maurice valency site:www.nytimes.com will find a wealth of information on Valency in the Times archives
 * maurice valency site:www.nytimes.com/1996/ will immediately find Valency's obituary (he died in 1996)
 * Jean Giraudoux site:www.nytimes.com/ -valency -Montresor everything on Giraudoux

Links

 * Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Maps
 * Latitude-longitude conversions
 * map templates and sources
 * Census Bureau Maps
 * Citation templates
 * Commons
 * WP:MOS
 * WP:MOSNUM
 * WP:PR
 * MOS talk
 * Template: Convert
 * Infobox templates
 * Link checker
 * Load-Time Tool
 * article hits counter
 * Template messages
 * AndyZ suggestions


 * Epbr123 suggestions
 * User:Ealdgyth/GA review cheatsheet
 * Featured article candidates
 * RS in review process
 * Free images in content review process
 * dabfinder
 * Wayback machine
 * seeking photo permission
 * citation bot
 * Popular page tracking
 * WP:RFA
 * WP:LEAD
 * WP:BUNCH
 * WP:ATT
 * WP:LAYOUT
 * WP:PUMP


 * WP:ARCHIVE
 * WP:FAC
 * WP:FACR
 * WP:GACR
 * WP:NBSP
 * WP:AIV
 * WP:BARN
 * WP:DEADLINK
 * WP:GA
 * WP:FA
 * WP:V
 * WP:CITE
 * WP:FAIR USE
 * WP:FL
 * Template Messages
 * WP:SPI

References, Notes, Bibliography, Further reading, and External links
Use the format {Reflist|30em}} as the standard if there are more than 4 footnotes; otherwise just use {Reflist}}

From Wikipedia: The Missing Manual (contrast with above)
The sections that can appear at the bottom of an article, in the preferred order, are:


 *  See also. A bulleted list of internal links and, optionally, a short explanation for any link whose purpose isn't obvious. (If the link is already in the article, don't add it to the "See also" section.)


 *  References, Notes, Footnotes, or Notes and footnotes. Whatever you find, don't change any of these four section headings when you find them in an article (unless you're an experienced editor). But if the section is (incorrectly) called "Citations", change it to "References" or "Notes", whichever isn't already being used.


 *  Further reading or Bibliography. This section contains sources that weren't used in writing the article, but that provide material that could eventually be used. It's unusual to find this section, mostly because if a potential source is online, it should be listed under "External links", not in "Further reading".


 *  External links . Lists a small number of high-quality sites that most readers will find useful and that were generally not cited as sources. Most experienced editors find links to prune from these sections. The external links section is where you're most likely to find linkspam. And even when links to blogs, personal Web pages, and so on are well-intentioned, they normally don't belong in an article. The guideline Wikipedia:External links (shortcut: WP:EL) has details.

Book references: Examples
Giraudoux was a French playwrite. Another book.


 * here is a perfect citation using the Template:Citation


 * New media is represented by Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool News and Karina Longworth, of spout.com.

footnote testing
Civil war, famine, and refugees made the task even more difficult. An intensive surveillance and containment and vaccination program was undertaken in early and mid-1977. In 1977, Australian microbiologist Frank Fenner was named the chairman of the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication. As the campaign neared its goal, Professor Fenner was able to demonstrate that there were no animal carriers of the disease left, an important step in declaring victory. The last naturally occurring case of indigenous smallpox (Variola minor) was diagnosed in Ali Maow Maalin, a hospital cook in Merca, Somalia, on 26 October 1977.

Editing keyboard shortcuts

 * ALT-e-ENT Go into edit mode
 * ALT-,-ENT Go to edit box
 * ALT-s-ENT Exit edit mode
 * ALT-j-ENT Go to home page

Floating table of contents
It uses the template TOCleft. Does anybody ever use it?

Wonderful Ondine poster is at 1982 Ondine poster

Maurice Valency wrote The Flower and the Castle: An Introduction to Modern Drama (New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1966).

The Visit review by Lloyd Rose, The Washington Post (pre-1997 Fulltext). Washington, D.C.: May 15, 1992.

Colors

 * List of colors shows a nice list of color strips with associated names



Also see Help:Using colours and List of colors

Example of footnote
Giraudoux died in 1944.

See this link: Encyclopedia of literary translation into English

Articles to possibly create

 * Brilliant Classics—a classical record company
 * Associate (ring theory)—at same time, revise Integral domain
 * Scott Macaulay—film critic
 * Brad Duchaine—prosopagnosia research
 * Ken Nakayama—prosopagnosia research
 * Coming to a Theatre Near You (Ebert & Roper)
 * cinematical
 * Story about the end of cinematical in Salt Lake Tribune article and at IFC blog
 * finish writing bio of Giraudoux and Valency

Nino Rota stuff

 * Should add awards section to Nino Rota. For other examples, see Audrey Hepburn or Danny Elfman.  Many of Rota's awards can be found here at IMDb.
 * great biography of Rota here

Pages to add to Rota discography?

 * http://www.take2.co.za/music-rota-chamber-music-nonetto-quintetto-2751492.html
 * http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/catalog/soundtrackdetail.php?movieid=55724
 * Notte di un Neurastenico, Orchestra Sinfonica Calabrese, Gruppo Strumentale Ricercare, Denise Fedeli (conductor), Label: Bottega Discantica, 1997
 * Category:Classical music discographies
 * WikiProject Discographies
 * Viva-Verdi has worked on a lot of opera discographies

Nino Rota's works were performed by

 * City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
 * Eugene Ormandy
 * Massimo Palumbo
 * Nic Raine
 * André Rieu
 * Richard Stoltzman
 * Giuseppe Grazioli
 * Carlo Savina
 * Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
 * Orchestra of the Americas
 * Riccardo Muti
 * Henry Mancini
 * Paul Bateman
 * Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
 * Marzio Conti
 * Nancy Enslin
 * I Virtuosi Italiani
 * Danielle Laval
 * London Symphony Orchestra

Footnote version of books in further reading section
.

Grossvogel Fowlie. Cohen. Giraudoux. LeSage. Inskip. Fletcher. Knowles.

Further reading with page numbers indicated

 * Grossvogel, David I. (1958),  20th Century French Drama,p. 80-84, Columbia University Press, New York.
 * Fowlie, Wallace (1967),  Dionysus in Paris; A Guide to Contemporary French Theater,p. 67-70, Meridian Books, Inc, New York, ISBN 60-6740.
 * Cohen, Robert (1968),  Giraudoux; Three Faces of Destiny,p. 64-76, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, ISBN 68-29058.
 * Giraudoux, Jean (1963),  Three Plays,p. xxxx, Oxford University Press, New York.
 * LeSage, Laurent (1959),  Jean Giraudoux; His Life and Works, The Pennsylvania State University Press, city, ISBN 52-12342.
 * Inskip, Donald, (1958),  Jean Giraudoux, The Making of a Dramatist,p. 97-102, Oxford University Press, New York.
 * Fletcher, John (1972),  Forces in Modern French Drama,p. 62-63, Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., New York, ISBN 0804421994.
 * Knowles, Dorothy (1968),  French Drama of the Inter-War Years, 1918-39,p. 208-210, Barnes & Noble, Inc., New York.