Wikipedia:Help desk/Archive 40

= January 24 =

Main Page redesign question
In the Main Page redesign project, this is one possibility. A question about the code (to make the draft, I mainly copied and pasted different elements for other drafts). There is a line that says id="EnWpMpSearch2", which codes for a small magnifying glass background image. Changing id="EnWpMpSearch2" to id="EnWpMpSearch" changes the color of the image from gray/white to yellow. However, the gray image looks ugly in a white box - my question is, how could one access the image file ("EnWpMpSearch2"?) to change it via Photoshop to make it look better on the page. (Note: currently this image is removed because of how it looks via adding "background-position: 0% 20%;" to the same tag. Side question: Why does this remove the magnifying glass image? As you can tell, I am pretty lost here in the code - so someone who understands what's doing what would be greatly appreciated). Zafiroblue05 00:51, 24 January 2006 (UTC)


 * The id activates a particular CSS style as defined in MediaWiki:Common.css. In particular we have:


 * 1) EnWpMpSearch { background: url(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ae/MP-magnifying-glass.png) no-repeat top right; }
 * 2) EnWpMpSearch2 { background: url(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3a/MP-magnifying-glass2.png) no-repeat top right; }
 * And hence the pictures you are interested in will be found at Image:MP-magnifying-glass.png and Image:MP-magnifying-glass2.png. Unless you are an administrator you will not be able to add another id and associated background image to the stylesheet. But you can just add background: url(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/......png) no-repeat top right; to the style attribute of the relevant  . If you don't understand the CSS, go read up on it; it's not that complicated. But understanding the CSS will also tell you why repositioning the background hides it (although I would have thought background:none would be simpler and just as effective). jnothman talk 01:15, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Thanks very much for your help! Zafiroblue05 01:55, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Citing Wikipedia
Where is the author listed on an article or how can I find who wrote an article?

How do I cite a page in APA format for a reference list?
 * See Citing Wikipedia Dismas|(talk) 03:50, 24 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Wikipedia is a wiki, so there are likely many editors. If you really wish to find out some of the authors, you can look at the article's history page.--   Talk [ (add)] • Contributions 05:23, 24 January 2006 (UTC)


 * There is also a "cite this page" link for articles in the Toolbox on the left. jnothman talk 06:35, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Copyright on sound samples?
What are the copyright laws on sound samples? I mean, how long they're allowed to be and etc. I'd like to contribute with a few but I really don't know anything on the subject. ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 09:46, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
 * The best way is, of course, to get a release under the GFDL from the copyright holder. Assuming that a release is not available, then such content can only be used under fair use. See our fair use policy and our general copyright policy. There is no specific length limit (just as there is no specific size or resolution limit on images used under a fair use claim). The sound clip should significantly contribute to teh articel involved, it should be only a small part of the original rtecording, and should nto serve as a replacement for the original, nor be likely to ahrm the market, if any, for the original. Fair use tends to be discouraged. If you do use it, be sure to use a proper license tag, such as Non-free fair use in, and be sure to write a specific rationale statement on the image/media page, explaininbg why it quslifies as fair use in the particualkr article or articles where you intend it to be linked. Think twice before doing this, and please read the policy pages I linked to carefully first. DES (talk) 16:34, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

change
how can changethe data 4.5 to 7.2
 * Read the instructions at the top of the page. This looks like a reference desk question, but if you want a chance at a helpful answer, you need to provide context. The way you described the issue now, makes it impossible for us to figure out what you're talking about. - Mgm|(talk) 11:12, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

what interop is generated while using COM in .Net

 * hi there pls anybody guid me what interop is generated while using COM in .Net? regards ashok

pls suggest me the code: how to retrieves usernames from Microsoft outlook using vb.net?
 * (second question) dear all

regards ashok
 * Please read the instructions at the top the page. This location is for questions about Wikipedia. Anything else, belongs at the reference desk. - Mgm|(talk) 11:13, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Help Me!
I accidently clicked the button 'Email New Password' and I haven't specified an E-Mail. I am XenoNeon, although I am not now because of that and the password has been sent although I haven't specified an E-Mail. What am I to do? Somebody Help me --86.134.17.152 12:06, 24 January 2006 (UTC)(But Really XenoNeon)


 * Email new password does not immediately change your password. If it did then anyone could click the button and thus change someone else's password. It keeps your old password and sends you a new temporary one. Therefore, if you know your old password, you should be able to still use that. If you don't know your old password ... well you should have specified an email address. jnothman talk 14:03, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Strange User-talk
Could someone have a look at User talk:Kstang page? Is it considered a blanket advertising? Should it be listed at WP:MFD and be deleted? Thanks. *drew 12:15, 24 January 2006 (UTC)


 * It is spam. I'm not sure if we can delete users, though, but I took the liberty to replace it with something. ☢ Ҡieff⌇↯ 12:27, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
 * User space pages can be put up for deletion at WP:MFD. They tend only to be deleted in fairly egrigous cases, however. See our user page policy for more details. DES (talk) 16:27, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Family trees
Is there a good method of drawing family trees within articles?

Thanks! &mdash; Asbestos | Talk   (RFC)  15:05, 24 January 2006 (UTC)


 * I wouldn't know. Never did it myself. But you can check here to see how other's did it List of family trees. Garion96 (talk) 15:28, 24 January 2006 (UTC)


 * See Family trees. I have a personal soft spot for Template:Familytree since I created it, but the other methods work just fine too.  —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 15:31, 24 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Thanks! I'll check them out. &mdash; Asbestos | Talk   (RFC)  16:37, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Clean up of Chew Valley Lake
Hi, What is the etiquette about removing a clean up tag?

I've done quite a bit on the Chew Valley Lake page and someone has requested a "clean up" suggesting it read a bit like a tourist brochure - which was probably true. I've done some tidying & changing the language on the page, but don't feel confident enough to remove the clean up notice without someone else having a look at it - is there an etiquette for this? Rod 16:29, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Say on the talk page that you have done soem work and ask if people feel that it is enough, or leave a msg for the person who placed the cleanup tag originally. if you think it is cleaned up enough, and after a tiem no one objects, you can simply remove the tag. DES (talk) 16:37, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Vandalism on my user and talk pages
I recently removed some commercial links added by anon 193.5.216.100 to several female bodybuilding pages. He appears to be attempting to use Wikipedia to advertise his web site; most of these edits are with the anon address, but a few have been made under the user name of Walliser. In any case, the anon user retaliated today by posting a message (signed "Thanks, The Community") on both my user page and my talk page, advising me not to post links to pages containing content inappropriate for minors - which is something I have never done. I have reverted both of my pages to previous versions, but was wondering - is there anything else that should be done here, or should I not worry until it becomes a recurring problem? fbb_fan 17:14, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I would say that you shouldn't worry about it for now. Perhaps he/she mistook you for someone else. Either way, it's probably best to wait and see. - Akamad 10:23, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Images in infoboxes
I normally don't work in infoboxes, but is there a way to change the size of an image in an infobox? See Infobox Celebrity for example. Thanks in advance. -- LV (Dark Mark)  17:29, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I've been having this problem too - common sense tells me that just putting Image.JPG|40px as the value for the "Image" parameter would limit it, but I think the pipe doesn't work with the template, and also, Infobox Celebrity already limits the size of the image to 225px. So, as far as I know, this isn't possible.  Anyone else?  tiZom 20:43, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I tried that, but to no end. And I don't want to expand an image, I want to shrink it, so it's not distorted. Thanks. -- LV (Dark Mark)  20:50, 24 January 2006 (UTC)


 * I've changed the template to include the optional parameter imagesize, by default 40px. So for instance you could use:


 * to produce:


 * jnothman talk 00:43, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

synthetic language
I am putting together a presentation re synthetic language versus artificial language any ideas
 * Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps.-- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 19:28, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Conditional Cells
I don't know if this is an appropriate place to ask this question. I'm trying to create a template with conditional cells. Namely, I'd like to make an infobox such that the background of certain cells change with its contents. As an example of what I'm trying to do:

Imagine an infobox for the US Supreme Court. There are nine members. I'd like to set the parameters as party1, name1, party2, name2, etc.

Now the infobox would look something like this, with blue automatically filled in for democrats, and red for republicans:

i want the infobox to be called as follows:

Please not that this is only an example of what I'm trying to do. I've got a few ideas for some templates, and I'm doing some research before I make them. I just want to know if there's an easy way to do this without having to call separate parameters for the background color. Thanks! tiZom 19:35, 24 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Yes, this is definitely the place to ask.
 * They are not highly recommended (being meta-templates), but you can use if templates. For instance, I could have a template something like:


 * With having put this in User:Jnothman/tiZom help1, I can now use:


 * to make:
 * But if you feel you should avoid meta templates as they have been advised against by the developers, just allow the colour to be another argument, ie use the template:


 * jnothman talk 00:30, 25 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Is HiddenStructure any help?--Commander Keane 01:59, 25 January 2006 (UTC)


 * No, that only applies for hiding components, not changing their colour... and then is quite ugly and controversial. jnothman talk 03:09, 25 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Another approach is to define subtemplates that contain the colors, e.g. user:Rick Block/Democratcolor and user:Rick Block/Republicancolor and construct the subtemplate name using the parameters, e.g. from user:Rick Block/Supremecourt


 * which when invoked yields

Although this has templates invoking other templates (which is a use of meta templates), it's perhaps not quite as resource intensive as using one of the generalized if templates. -- Rick Block (talk) 04:17, 25 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately it is. Using switch incurs the cost of one database fetch per row, just like your specialized template.  Now, if you could refactor your templates so that there is only one subtemplate call for the entire table (like I've done with familytree), then you might get some savings.  But in general, switch is one of the most versatile and efficient conditional templates.  If you must use metatemplates, it's often the best of the lot.  —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 11:10, 25 January 2006 (UTC)
 * In fact, come to think of it, this way is actually more expensive since there are multiple subtemplates to fetch rather than just template:switch (and as I understand it, once a "subtemplate" has been fetched during the evaluation of the parent template the subtemplate is not refetched). -- Rick Block (talk) 15:27, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia pages being used on other sites?
Not sure if this is the right place to put this

I've found several pages i wrote on wikipedia used on another site - they seem to be copied verbatim (& I've changed the version on here since)

There doesn't appear to be any credit saying where they got it from. Is this allowed? can any action be taken?

examples: http://chew-valley-lake.biography.ms/ http://chew-stoke.biography.ms/

Rod 19:59, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
 * See our forks and mirrors page for the rules on how other sites can re-use wikipedia content; a list of sites known to be doing so, and how well they seem to follow the rules; and information about how to get sites to comply. You can add these sites if theya re not already listed. DES (talk) 22:17, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks I see the site I was talking about is already listed & comments made Rod 10:14, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Would I get blocked?
Due to the sheer number of idiots vandalising Wikipedia, my school is usually blocked from editing. But if I signed into this account from there, would I get blocked too? Thanks, CaptainVindaloo 21:48, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Currently if the IP you are using is blocked, you cna't edit even if you log in. there are proposals to change this, but they require a change to the MediaWiki software, so ther is no knowing when or if they will be implemented. If a user is blocked by username and tries to edit enyway, the IP from which the edit was attempted is "autoblocked" for 24 hours IIRC. If you are caught by such a blcok, email the blocking admin, or post a note (from a different IP) on the talk page of any admin or at WP:ANI or a similar public page. DES (talk) 22:16, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Setting Up Portals
How do I set up portals on my wiki site? I have tried to use the suggested material on the Portals page and am not having any luck.

Peggy Brennan


 * This help desk is technically for Wikipedia help, not your own wikis. A portal is essentially no different from any other page on the site, except that it's not technically an article, so it doesn't fall under the main namespace, it's not technically a project page so it doesn't fall under the Wikipedia namespace. All the portals page suggests is the use of some pre-built templates, such as that found at Template:box portal skeleton. So what you probably need a better grasp on is templates in general. jnothman talk 00:10, 25 January 2006 (UTC)


 * This is becoming something of an FAQ - those templates give such a nice look, so easily, that people naturally want to copy them; unfortunately, they use an absolutely hideous amount of nesting, so copying all the necessary parts to another wiki is all but impossible. They also make use of the fact that the Portal: namespace (which is a custom namespace on Wikipedia, not one that's set up "out of the box") has subpages set up, making things like  behave differently from they would in a "normal" page, and, well, who knows what other jiggery-pokery. I don't know what can be done about this, to be honest, except putting a large "copying these templates outside Wikipedia may be a nightmare" disclaimer somewhere... - IMSoP 17:31, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

= January 25 =

'DEAR MIKIMEDIA I WANTED TO ASK HOW CAN I GRADUATE IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY?'

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 08:14, 25 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Er, I think the best place for this question would actually be your guidence consulers office.--  Talk [ (add)] • Contributions 08:20, 25 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I guess that's true. But if he is intent on asking that in Wikipedia, at least not in the help desk. Besides, a good opportunity to give the new template a try :-) -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 08:34, 25 January 2006 (UTC)


 * I would classify it as a bad opportunity to give the new template a try. Wikipedia cannot help anyone graduate Harvard university; not even at the reference desk. jnothman talk 09:07, 25 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Oh well. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 09:12, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Why is their more vascular plants than non-vascular plants
Why are their more vascular than non-vascular plants on earth?


 * Your factual question belongs at the Reference Desk. The Help Desk is for questions about editing Wikipedia. -- Natalya 05:37, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Convert SVGs into GIF animation
Hi all, I'm planning to make a GIF animation from some SVGs, I am using ImageReady, but which does not recognize SVG format, Illustrator recognizes SVG format, but I do not know how to batch convert SVGs to file format ImageReady recognizes. I also tried convert tool comes with ImageMagick, but its SVG render engine seems buggy, and produced a corrupted rendering, so how can I do this job? &mdash; Yaohua2000 05:37, 25 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Have you tried batik's rasterizer?--Joris Gillis 15:09, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Advanced Search Tools for WikiProject or user?
I am familiar with many different ways to search Wikipedia articles using Google, in-line search, or WhatLinksHere. Is there a tool, process, or Robot to do advanced searches? Example: Tiguex War is a new stubby article,  but not tagged on the talk page as a WikiProject Military history, so it is hard for that group to know about it. However two editors mildy debated the correct stub classification. A search of all articles in a category of Military History (and all sub-categories underneath) to find those articles that do not have the WikiProject notice on their talk page would be helpful. Google cannot do that, that I know of. Another example, a search to find all the articles in the WW2 categories and sub-categories that are also in a WWI category or sub-category would be very helpful. That type of article should be very rare. No automated changes, just advanced search. Wendell 06:39, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

hello
could you please put in info about the British 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division because my great grandad was in that division but after the war he thrown every out that reminded him about the war including info, uniforms and such so i am trying to find some info about him thank you please e-mail me back my email is (email address removed) THANK YOU


 * There is already an article on the British 50th (Northumbrian) Division. If you want to discuss specifics of that article, please do so at it's Talk Page. -- Natalya 15:03, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

i like yo join UScoast guide
please how i join the US Coast Guide. You can reach me on. Thank for be there, Imhomoh iluowore

Please post such questions to our Reference Desk at WP:RD. User:Zoe|(talk) 17:39, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Chinese Wikipedia
The Chinese Wikipedia has 3 extra tabs at the top of the page. What are they and what do they do? Thanks, Gerard Foley 157.190.187.201 14:58, 25 January 2006 (UTC)


 * The first five tabs are the same as in English Wikipedia. I believe the extra three tabs are for different variants of Chinese, but I cannot tell you specifically which ones, as I do not speak the language. -- Natalya 16:35, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Music
Could someone tell me what the theme tune of Audio Wikinews' Wikinews Full report is? IS it PD?


 * Your question does not quite belong at the Help Desk (it is for quetions about editing Wikipedia.) I see you've already placed a quesiton on the talk page of Audio Wikinews, which is probably your best bet.  You might also try the Reference Desk. -- Natalya 15:50, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

breaking after every line for a big block of text
How do automatically add a line break after ever line in a big block of text?

For example, I have:

line 1 line 2 ... line 100

But when I cut-and-paste it into wiki, it displays as: line1 line2 ... line 100

What I'd like is something like the nowiki tag, but which does: line 1 line 2 ... line 100

Brusselsshrek 16:38, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

I've found out myself - just add a space at the start of each line, e.g. line 1 line 2 ... line 100

Brusselsshrek 16:54, 25 January 2006 (UTC)
 * You can also surround the entire text with   tags.--   Talk [ (add)] • Contributions 19:06, 25 January 2006 (UTC)
 * If you want to do it without the box around it then you can put two linebreaks between each line, which will give you:


 * Line 1


 * Line 2


 * Line 3


 * and so on, or les put  after each line giving:


 * Line 1
 * Line 2
 * Line 3


 * Hope that helps. --Cherry blossom tree 15:32, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Two Questions
I'm having problems creating gutters(the typographical kind) around tables. I also can't see a TOC recently. If you could, please respond on my talk page if you can assist. Karm a  fist  16:47, 25 January 2006 (UTC)


 * The problem with TOCs (I presume you mean the ones at the top of articles etc, right?) may be something you've flipped accidentally in your preferences: under "Misc", there's a tick-box for "Show table of contents (for pages with more than 3 headings)". Another possibility is that something's wrong with the custom JavaScript you have set up. - IMSoP 19:05, 25 January 2006 (UTC)


 * With regard to table gutters, you need to use either padding or margin to set the space around the table (the other one is for the space the text is from the edge inside the table. See Help:Tables. - Mgm|(talk) 20:27, 25 January 2006 (UTC)


 * That did it. Thanks guys, I must have looked at Help:Tables a dozen times, but when you're frantic to fix something, I guess you miss what you really need to find. Karm  a  fist  21:42, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

non starting ford escort
hi i have a 94 f/e that i have change the g/box on, having taken the batery of over night it no longer has a spark and will not start. could anyone help as to the cause of this ,could it be the imobiliser ? or if it needs re programing does anyone know the code. many thanks terry


 * Your factual question belongs at the Reference Desk. The Help Desk is for questions about editing Wikipedia. -- Natalya 20:26, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

research paper
I need to write a research paper in APA style or form. I do not know how to do that. Can you please show me? Thank You!!!!


 * This type of question belongs on the Language section of the reference desk. The help desk (this page) is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please post your question in its proper place. Thanks. -- Natalya 22:15, 25 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Or you could just try the article on APA style. jnothman talk 02:57, 26 January 2006 (UTC)


 * If you want to cite a Wikipedia article, just hit the cite this article link on the left of your screen. It will show the most common ways, including APA. - Mgm|(talk) 09:27, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

= January 26 =

What template should one use to call attention to a page that has possibly plagiarized? Also is there a list of all templates that contributors can use on pages? 138.16.19.127 03:15, 26 January 2006 (UTC)


 * For info on the copyright violation template, check here. Copyright problems. Because it involves more than just adding the template. I hope this is what you meant. For, I think all, other templates on articles check this page. Template messages. Garion96 (talk) 03:20, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Dynamic Infoboxes
So with the Olympics coming up, I think there should be an "Olympian" or "Olympic Medalist" Infobox, to make things a little easier for coding. I'd like to bring this up to the Infobox page, but before I do that, I want to know if it's feasibly possible. Take a look at Michael Johnson's page. I love that chart there, with all the medals (with their respective background colors, which I could implement per my question on 24 January), the sports, the events, and the year of the event. I'd like to make this an infobox, especially considering that there are so many olympians out there with their own WP page, and it's probably going to be extremely difficult to keep them all formatted the same. Only thing is, that I'm not sure how I would implement such an infobox, because: Would this be a waste of WP bandwidth, etc? I know it would be a little bit of work, and I'm definitely up to it, but if it's a logistical waste, then maybe I'll scrap it and make a wikiproject instead... (A lot of questions here, I know...Sorry!) tiZom(the man)  03:55, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * This would need to have a dynamic list of all medals, as there is no limit to how many medals an olympian can receive. The only way I can think to do this is by using a very long list of parameters, with each of them hidden unless they have a value.
 * The years should each be a wikilink to the sport/year of the olympics. (i.e. 1996 in the Michael Johnson page should ideally link to Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics, So I'd have problems linking that in an infobox, I think.


 * The traditional way to deal with the first problem is just to have a different template for 1 medal as for 2, 3, etc. An alternative may be to use a template for each row. Ie, I've made User:Jnothman/tiZom_olymp/top, User:Jnothman/tiZom_olymp/gold and User:Jnothman/tiZom_olymp/bottom which produce something more efficient than the meta-templates otherwise required. I then use:


 * which produces (to the right):


 * Is that a fair enough solution? jnothman talk 04:48, 26 January 2006 (UTC)


 * By the way, I think the links as they are belong outside the template. It would be possible, though, to produce 1996 Summer Olympics as something like  Olympics . I think the link to, say, Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics should be on Athletics, and not on 1996, but this would be better not embedded in the template, and rather passed into the template as a link. jnothman talk 04:55, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

That seems like a good idea. Do you (or anyone else) know of any examples of such a thing? I've never seen something implemented like that, and I don't want to be the one who starts something new and confusing :oP But I do like the idea that if an olympian currently has a silver medal, then a bronze medal can be added without fishing around for the hex color code. I also like that this keeps things a little bit more uniform, unlike the tables, which all seem to have a different format (Florence Griffith Joyner, Michael Johnson, Zhang Jun, Nikolai Andrianov, just to name a few random ones... tiZom(the man) 05:19, 26 January 2006 (UTC)


 * For the record, I think Florence's listing is most sensible in design. jnothman talk 11:37, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I liked that one the best too, but now I'm thinking that it might pose some problems if someone is in multiple sports (I'm not aware of such a situation, but feasibly, it could exist.)  tiZom(the man)  15:25, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * It actually did happen somewhat regularly in the early Games. See Category:Competitors at the 1896 Summer Olympics to find a few examples - Carl Schuhmann and Holger Nielsen are two.  Sorting, then, is done by sport, then by medal, then by Games, then by event. -- Jonel | Speak 19:58, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

This is interesting: Brion was asking on WT:AUM whether we could think of a situation where we might need some sort of looping construct and you chaps seem to have come up with the best example so far. Cheers. —Phil | Talk 16:22, 26 January 2006 (UTC)


 * I'm trying to work out how this would benefit from a looping construct. It depends what you call a loop... As in CBD's response at WT:AUM, this is not original and Babel boxes do much the same. If there is to be a looping construct, then we need a list construct and syntax to support it. Ie, if I could pass in a list of medals as an argument, a looping construct would be useful. Further, if an olympian were to succeed in multiple sports, I may want nested loops so that I can list their medals in one, followed by the other. But, in the end, in concept, code and processing, I think the above solution is just simpler. jnothman talk 22:11, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I just realised an alternative method of looping, which would not be SO bad or horrid to code: a loop with a counter, for example <>, so that I could have refer to  or, etc... The loop could either end based on the existence of a further variable, or when it reaches a certain predefined upper limit. This would not be so bad in terms of code efficiency, but would require a lot of named arguments, which can get uglyish. jnothman talk 22:16, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

As someone who has been working on a lot of Olympic medallists pages, I'm very interested in the infoboxes being discussed here. I think the big challenge is that you have 4 fairly large variables going on with Olympic games, sport, event and color of medal.

Also, one thing that I've been trying to do is organize via color of medal and then by Olympic game, so that all the gold medals were together, then silver, then bronze even if the Olympic games (1996, 2000, etc.) were different.

Sue Anne 12:05, 28 January 2006 (UTC)


 * A template to standardize the boxes would be excellent. Line-by-line looks easiest to implement, with, say, the templates:


 * &#123;{MedalTop}} (no arguments)
 * &#123;{MedalSport}} (MedalSport | sport)
 * &#123;{MedalGold}} (MedalGold | year | event)
 * &#123;{MedalSilver}} (MedalSilver | year | event)
 * &#123;{MedalBronze}} (MedalBronze | year | event)
 * &#123;{MedalBottom}} (no arguments)


 * For example, using Holger Nielsen:

Gives:

Comments? -- Jonel | Speak 20:25, 28 January 2006 (UTC)


 * I like it. Sue Anne 21:06, 28 January 2006 (UTC)


 * I've created the templates and implemented them on the 1896 medallists. Much prettier source than before :). -- Jonel | Speak 22:16, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

Omnipresence
I noticed that someone created a page that ought not have been created and within 19 minutes, someone has come along and marked it for deletion. Similarly, when I made a page, someone came to my talk page and commented. Since the 'recent changes' page is a bit hit and miss, how do you people keep so aware of everything that goes on around here? --Username132 03:27, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Notice near top right corner of your browser window there is a box marked WATCH, which if you click it places the current page on your WATCH LIST which you can get to via a link near the center of your browser window, or to the left (toolbox) of your user page. This then provides links to recent activity on all the pages you have marked that you want to watch.
 * Another thing, from toolbox is access to recent contributions that you have made. Notice sometimes beside your contribution is Top in bold which means you were the last person to contribute to that article.  Thus, if Top is not there, that means someone has edited it since your last visit.
 * So visit article changed since your last visit, that you found out about thanks to who done it on the watch list, or not Top on your contributions, and click on the History at the top of the article, and select range since your last edit ... aggregate of what other people have done.
 * You might also find value in some of the Special pages from the Toolbox, where for example there are sub-sets of recent changes, to only list new articles, for example.
 * I hope these tips have been helpful to Y"all. User:AlMac|(talk) 04:04, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * For detecting new pages, nothing beats Special:Newpages for an up-to-date list of, well, new pages. You get a nice list, which changes at a much slower rate than the recent changes page, so you can actually view every page that goes by.--   Talk [ (add)] • Contributions 05:13, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Thank you! I was about to put something up for deletion (apparently "brad kramer" smells), but someone beat me to it!! --Username132 16:13, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

history of swedish massage
could you please give me some information on the history
 * Please read the instructions at the top of the page. Your question belongs at the reference desk. - Mgm|(talk) 09:29, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Reference desk template
Hi everyone.

Most of you probably don't watch the help desk's talk page, so I'll refactor here some of the recent discussion there:
 * A template Reference desk, and a shortcut RD, have been recently created. These are meant to streamline replies to irrelevant questions on the help desk.
 * Basically, if you want to refer a person to the help desk, type to get:

This type of question belongs on the reference desk. The help desk (this page) is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please follow the link to the reference desk, select the relevant subject, and post your question there. Thanks. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 11:01, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * If you know the topic this question belongs to, type for example Humanities to get:

This type of question belongs on the Humanities section of the reference desk. The help desk (this page) is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please [ click here] to post your question in its proper place. Thanks. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 11:01, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * If a specific article probably has the answer to a question, type for example Leonardo da Vinci to get:

The help desk (this page) is for questions about using Wikipedia. This type of question does not belong here. Try looking for answers in the article about Leonardo da Vinci. If you cannot find the answer there, [ click here] to post your question at that article's talk page.

If that doesn't solve your problem, you can try asking your question on the reference desk. Thanks. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 11:01, 26 January 2006 (UTC) I hope you have found this useful. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 11:01, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * If the question is unlikely to be answered in Wikipedia, simply explain politely that this question does not belong in Wikipedia.
 * Your signature and timestamp will be added automatically, no need to add it manually. (I removed this feature because it is unexpected and confusing.  It is not remotely hard to add it yourself.--   <small class="plainlinksneverexpand">Talk [ (add)] • Contributions 16:03, 26 January 2006 (UTC))
 * Don't forget to use subst to help the servers and to force your signature to compile.
 * There is one problem with this template, substituting it copies the entire conditional structure, only a part of which is actually displayed. If anyone knows how to correct this, that would be great.

Gah, question
I remember seeing the approximate proposed date for WP hitting its millionth article, but now I can't find it. Any help? Sherurcij (talk) (Terrorist Wikiproject) 16:35, 26 January 2006 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure if this is quite what you're looking for, but Million_pool has to do with predicting the date English Wikipedia will hit its millionth article. -- Natalya 17:54, 26 January 2006 (UTC)


 * You probably saw it in The Signpost. The article Look back says Wikipedia will have one million articles sometime in February or March. --GraemeL (talk) 18:34, 26 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Much thanks guys, appreciate your answers! :) Sherurcij (talk) (Terrorist Wikiproject) 19:30, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

help on pages about to be deleted
Hi ..my name is Andy Davidson-Lee and I put a page on about myself at the end of last year but it's now up for deletion as first of all I didn't know how to clean it up and now it's about to be put up for deletion...am totally confused how to fix this..can anyone help Many thanks Andy


 * It seems that somebody didn't quite get the listing right; if you look at Andy Davidson-Lee now, you'll see that it points to this page, which is a discussion on whether the page should be deleted or not. You can make your case there for why it should be kept, though it would be advisable to read the deletion policy and perhaps the guide to deletion first, to understand the arguments more experienced users will make. - IMSoP 20:05, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Vertically centered cells
Any way to make a cell vertically centered when it spans across multiple lines (lines, not rows...)? I can't find the parameter name...

OK NOW I'm mad! It's working here, but it's not working on my template! Check out the Gold Medal thing that we listed above:

I'm trying to get that Gold medal on the left to center vertically... why won't it do it? <b style="color:#08457E;">tiZom</b><sub style="color:black;">(the man) 21:55, 26 January 2006 (UTC)


 * The reason this is happening is that the table used in User:Jnothman/tiZom_olymp/top is classed as an infobox. MediaWiki:Common.css includes the lines:

.infobox td, .infobox th { vertical-align: top; }
 * These mean that text in table cells within infoboxes is alligned to the top. One remedy would be to remove the marking Prettyinfobox from the definition of this table. Another alternative would be in the User:Jnothman/tiZom_olymp/gold template, to change  to which would override the general infobox alignment settings. [Oh, and btw, I hope you're not planning to use the template in my user namespace within articles. Please duplicate them in the Template namespace first!] jnothman talk 22:30, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * valign... that's what I think I was looking for!!! Thanks a lot!  And yeah, don't worry -I built a few sandboxes under my username, and I'm playing around with the templates, getting them right before I post them into the template namespace.  I'm definitely going to do that version with the top and the bottom - for now, that method works, and doesn't make anyone angry. :o)


 * Any suggestions on how the titles should read? I'm thinking that the medals should be sub-directories (i.e. Template:Olympic Record/top and Template:Olympic Record/silver).  That sound like a plan?  I wish there were some sort of precedent here, so I could follow suit.  <b style="color:#08457E;">tiZom</b><sub style="color:black;">(the man)  05:49, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

How can I report vandalism
such as this ? Zeq 20:26, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Someone has already reverted that. Fiollow the link on revert to learn how to do this yourself. if you feel unable to revert yourself, you can reprot at WP:AIV or WP:ANI. 20:33, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * To make reverting easier, you can use a script called popups, created by User:Lupin. More details about how to install, use, and customize it are on that page. -- King of Hearts | (talk) 01:12, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

line breaks in a numbered list item
Hi, I did notice this question answered somewhere on a talk page (when it wasn't a problem I was having) and now I can't find it :P, so I apologize for asking it again even though it's been answered before...

I have a numbered list. One of the items on the list has line breaks in it. When I make the next numbered item, it restarts the numbering...how do I get around this?

Example:


 * 1) this is my first list item, it introduces a description, which follows:
 * this is the first paragraph of the description
 * this is the second paragraph of the description with a line break in between


 * 1) this is my next list item, it should be 2, but the list has restarted at 1 instead

Thanks bcatt 22:35, 26 January 2006 (UTC)


 *  # :  is what you're looking for:

#:and then about that.
 * 1) First of all, this
 * 1) And another thing...
 * becomes:
 * First of all, this
 * and then about that.
 * And another thing...
 * <b style="color:#08457E;">tiZom</b><sub style="color:black;">(the man) 23:06, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * <b style="color:#08457E;">tiZom</b><sub style="color:black;">(the man) 23:06, 26 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Alternatively you could try using the  tag:

this is the first paragraph of the description this is the second paragraph of the description with a line break in between
 * 1) this is my first list item, it introduces a description, which follows:&lt;br /&gt;this is the first paragraph of the description&lt;br /&gt;this is the second paragraph of the description with a line break in between
 * 2) this is my next list item, it should be 2, but the list has restarted at 1 instead
 * becomes:
 * this is my first list item, it introduces a description, which follows:
 * this is my next list item, it should be 2, but the list has restarted at 1 instead
 * HTH HAND —Phil | Talk 08:52, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Overlapping boxes
On Neyland Stadium, the box listing all the SEC stadiums is overlapping the Neyland Stadium infobox. Looking at the page history, it seems like this happened when someone tried to move two images from below the box to above it. It's now displaying to the right of the images. Why is this happening, and how do I fix it? 170.140.74.93 23:02, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * The article works fine for me. Nothing is overlapping.  Dismas|(talk) 03:16, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Maybe it's a browser issue, then? I'm using Firefox on a Mac; Safari has the same problem. 170.140.74.93 03:31, 27 January 2006 (UTC)
 * The problem here was CSS floats. The solution was the insertion of clear before SEC Football Venues. If you need more explanation, ask. jnothman talk 03:52, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

= January 27 =

Special:Emailuser
Is there a way I can email myself to test the function out? When I try it, an error message appears. -- King of Hearts | (talk) 01:09, 27 January 2006 (UTC)
 * It seems you have not specified an email address in "my preferences". - Akamad 01:17, 27 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I have an email in "my preferences". -- King of Hearts | (talk) 04:49, 28 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Perhaps you have entered it wrong--  <small class="plainlinksneverexpand">Talk [ (add)] • Contribs 04:59, 28 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Even if you have specifed an email address in preferences, you have to make sure that the "Enable e-mail from other users" box is ticked. Did that work?--Commander Keane 10:04, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia in other formats
Hi. Do you know where I can find information on accessing Wikipedia in other formats, like CD-ROM, print, PDA, offline and so forth? --Perfecto 02:45, 27 January 2006 (UTC)


 * One idea floating around wikipedia, is that of working to version 1.0 when it will be publishable in other forms. Otherwise, you can now download static dumps of Wikipedia's pages, but aren't assured of its quality. See <http://static.wikipedia.org/>. But this is a fair bit too much for most PDAs, seeing as there are 75GB of images. One could also download the database for use with a web server and the Mediawiki software. jnothman talk 03:50, 27 January 2006 (UTC)


 * If you read German, then you're in luck. They released a DVD version . The German edition is also reportedly going to be published in print form over a 100 volumes until 2010. Much to our embarrassment, the English edition hasn't quite kept up with their achievements. &mdash; Matt Crypto 10:40, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Guinnevere
Could you tell me the history of the song "Guinnevere" by Crosby, stills, and Nash? Who was it written for and why? Thank you, Cim Schetter 71.81.214.92 05:48, 27 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). For your convenience, here's the link: Reference Desk (when you get there, just select the relevant section, and ask away). I hope this helps. <b style="color:#08457E;">tiZom</b><sub style="color:black;">(the man) 05:51, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Inline tables
I don't suppose some Wikicode/HTML guru could help me with the following formatting? I'd like to be able to use a box like the following for bilingual conversations on the Swahili Wikipedia: However, the above box always starts a new line. It would be most useful as an "inline" table. That is, if it could be used like this:


 * Here is some $$\frac{\mbox{text at the top}}{\mbox{and some other text at the bottom}}$$, all inline.

Of course, that's a nasty LaTeX hack. Could someone suggest a good way of doing this in normal mediawiki code?

Cheers! &mdash; Matt Crypto 10:21, 27 January 2006 (UTC)


 * You can, in principle, do it with the CSS display attribute, but browser support for it is somewhat variable. Giving the table a style of   will do it in most browsers that support CSS at all, although I found some claims that this may break in some versions of IE.  —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 22:46, 27 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately, this won't work in general. W3C arbitrarily decided that   cannot be nested in , so HTML Tidy will helpfully insert a   before   in normal, unindented paragraphs.  Inline tables will work in indented paragraphs because they use  .  One solution might be to patch tidy ; there should be no technical reason behind W3C's restriction.  It's also possible to work around the restriction using CSS   attributes; for example, suþ can produce superscripts above subscripts, as so:  ×.  ‣ ᓛᖁ  [[Image:Venus symbol (blue).gif|♀]] [ ᑐ ] 23:26, 27 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Maybe a modification of the code I use in my signature would achieve the look that you are requesting. &mdash;WAvegetarian• CONTRIBUTIONS TALK • EMAIL <span style="position: relative; left:+6px; margin-right:+6px;">•07:45, 28 January 2006 (UTC)
 * The suþ solution doesn't look right in Firefox 1.5: the bottom of the table lines up with the center of the surrounding text. This could be fixed by setting the vertical-align on the table, but that is easier said than done since it's an implicitly created anonymous table with no corresponding DOM node.  Setting the display of the surrounding span to   would work, if Firefox actually understood it, which it doesn't.  As much as I like it in general, I'll have to say that, in this particular respect, Firefox sucks.  And you can quote me on that.  —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 13:55, 28 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Something like this, loosely based on WAvegetarian's code, might work: <sup style="position:absolute;">1 2×<sup style="position:absolute;">3 4. Its main weakness is that the superscript can overlap the following text if it is wider than the subscript.  Of course, putting the subscript first in the markup reverses the situation.  —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 14:12, 28 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I've changed Template:Suþ to use this markup. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 17:44, 28 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Hm, that's interesting. In Mozilla, the   trick doesn't always display the same way.  The placement seems to depend on the line height somehow: on Template:Suþ  overlaps ; the example in front of my signature has a few pixels between the superscript and subscript; and two paragraphs above there is only one pixel between.  It looks like the superscripts aren't being placed at the correct height.  They had also disappeared when I came to this page, but are now visible again.  How do the following look?  ‣ ᓛᖁ  [[Image:Venus symbol (blue).gif|♀]] [ ᑐ ] 18:36, 28 January 2006 (UTC)


 * The later ones are all mashed up. If you try stacking them like this:


 * then the first line is cropped slightly at the bottom but the later ones look fine. Maybe it's using multiple values of  on the same row? HTH HAND —Phil | Talk 11:52, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Custom infobox
I'm quite an experienced wikipedian, but I still haven't got the hang of infoboxes. I would like to add the flag and the coat of arms of Zwolle to the infobox on the article. There are seven or eight infoboxes on Dutch municipalities, but none of them allow for flags and coats of arms. I would therefore need to "build" a custom infobox for this article. I've tried to do this in my user space, but when I click preview, the userbox comes out all wrong. How can I make this work? (I've read through Help:Infobox and Infobox, but they didn't get me any further.) Aecis Mr.Mojorisin' 14:09, 27 January 2006 (UTC) PS. The code of the custom infobox I created was as follows: How bad did I screw this up?


 * Your problem isn't with the 'infobox' per se... it's the table markup. See Help:Table for info on how this works. Basically, you are putting the flag and the coat of arms in the same row when you probably want them on separate rows;


 * colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | [[Image:Flag zwolle.gif|150px]] Flag of Zwolle
 * colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | [[Image:Wapen Zwolle.png|150px]] Coat of Arms of Zwolle
 * colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | [[Image:Wapen Zwolle.png|150px]] Coat of Arms of Zwolle
 * colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | [[Image:Wapen Zwolle.png|150px]] Coat of Arms of Zwolle


 * Also, you are missing the closing brackets on 'Population density|Density' towards the bottom of the table. --CBD ☎ ✉ 14:51, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Category Cleanup
There are articles listed in the Category:Film templates that do not belong there. After adding around the categories in Template:The Grudge and Template:The Ring, the articles where those templates are used are still listed in Category:Film templates. How do I removed the articles or get them removed? I have searched for over an hour and still can't find an answer. Unfortunately, this article is now added to that category as well with my mistake of not adding nowiki around the category.

Lady Aleena | Talk 21:07, 27 January 2006 (UTC)


 * If a page is added to a category because the category is part of a template used on that page, and the tempalte is later edited to remove the category, or to palce it in a noinclude section, the page will remain in the category until it is next edited and saved. A null edit on each such page will do the trick. DES (talk) 21:15, 27 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Is a null edit when one opens the edit window and saves without doing anything to the page? Lady Aleena | Talk 21:27, 27 January 2006 (UTC)
 * That is my understanding. it may be that a trivial change shuch as addign or deleting a space must be made I'm not absolutely sure. DES (talk) 21:59, 27 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Gah! I thought I removed the category from here, but didn't. It is now done. Hopefully, this article will not show up in that category now. Lady Aleena | Talk 22:07, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

For the record, a null edit doesn't require a trivial change (such as addign or deleting a space). You can simply open the edit widnow and save.--Commander Keane 10:02, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Another Question Regarding That Olympic Thing
Ok I've got it up and running, but the valign thing still isn't working. Check it out: Infobox Olympic Medalist/top Infobox Olympic Medalist/bronze Infobox Olympic Medalist/bottom The code for this is:
 * 1) REDIRECT Template:Olympic Record/top
 * 1) REDIRECT Template:Olympic Record/bronze
 * 1) REDIRECT Template:Olympic Record/bottom


 * Firstly, it's valign="middle", not valign="center" as you had entered. Secondly, I don't know why valign wasn't working; it seems CSS presides over this tag. So I used the style attribute and CSS to do the same, see the diff. jnothman talk 10:46, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

possible security flaw?
Hi, I've used Wikipedia for a while, but have only relatively recently signed up to be a user wikipedia. I have just accessed the wikipedia main page and I was already signed in as "Zippokovich" (my username is alexstep_uk). I had access to this guys preferences, watchlist and contributions and it was impossible for anybody other than myself to have used my computer. I'm sending you this as I realise this could possibly be a security flaw, although I'm no computer expert. I would be happy to provide you any further information if you require it.

Alex
 * Well, the contributions are public, but the watchlist and preferences aren't. Where did you access the page? Was it in a public place? Tito xd (?!? - help us) 21:52, 27 January 2006 (UTC)


 * What can I say, Alex? Never heard of this or anything like it before. Zippokovich's only made 1 contribution, but you could possibly email them to get a better idea of why this might have happened. jnothman talk 10:49, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Phone contacts for the Organisers of the UCBMUNC 2006
Hi, We do appreciate your relentless efforts to keep us updated in the World of Academia. Personally,am a big fun of this Website and quite often I refer to it as often as am Stuck in matters of Knowledge Search. This time round however, am not quite sure as to whether my question lies within you areas of expertise. But either way, I will be very glad if you kindly help me access the phone Contacts of the Organisers of the Upcoming University of Carlifornia Berkeley Model united Nations Conference 2006, slated to take place in March 2006. Iam an ardent fun of these Conferences and would love to take part in this forthcoming Comference. My problem apparently is that I have some urgent inquiries to make thru Phone Contacts. I will be so glad if you help in that direction. Any phone contact of the Organisers will be a Great Boost but most especially the Secretary General UCBMUNC 2006 i.e Bruce Sung. Thank You in Advance Michael (Malden Massachusetts) For urgent reply, this is my E-mail address

Contact page (found via Google)  OhNo itsJamie Talk 22:31, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

= January 28 = I want to create a article about ivus (ivu; frozen tsunamis), but for some reason the page goes to IVU, which is not the page (or search page) that I was looking for. I don't want to go through disambiguation. -- hello, i'm a member  |  talk to me!  03:06, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

see this link, too


 * I'm not certain that I totally understand the question, but... is "Ivu" the article you're looking to create? Wikipedia articles are case-sensitive, so Ivu is different from IVU, which are both different from IvU, etc. --P e ruvianLlama(spit) 03:37, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

german translations
Hi. I'm doing a translation from German to English, and although I understandmost of the text, certain words seem to be non-existent in English, for instance Schwerlabor and Erlebnisraum. Who can tell me what these things are? Is there a special listing of architectural terms anywhere that I can refer to?
 * I would translate Schwerlabor as "hard labor", but the other word is hard to translate for me as well. Perhaps you can find some help at WikiProject Architecture? - Mgm|(talk) 10:10, 28 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Antoher good place to ask could be the Language Reference desk. dictionary.com translates Erlebnisraum as Experience area (however, it translates Schwerlabor as Heavy laboratory), but it's hard to say if that's right without the full context.--Commander Keane 14:44, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Wumen
What happened to the article on Wumen/Mumon? ‣ ᓛᖁ  [ ᑐ ] 17:20, 28 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Apparently, they never existed. Are you sure you spelled this correctly? - Mgm|(talk) 18:33, 28 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Dah, I was thinking of Yunmen Wenyan. I was certain we had an article on Mumon, though... oh well.  ‣ ᓛᖁ  [[Image:Venus symbol (blue).gif|♀]] [ ᑐ ] 20:14, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

hi
My name is Jade Callender and I'm 12 year sold and live in Plymoth. I was wondering if you could do a kid's big brother for ages 12-15. If you do could I be in it please?

Yours Sincerly, Jade Callender


 * This is a forum for questions on using Wikipedia, not getting big brothers.
 * A kids Big Brother eh? Well Wikipedia can't organise anything like that, but you should take a look at Big Brother (UK TV series) and Teen Big Brother (UK). You'll probably have to wait until you're 18 though. — FireFox • T • 20:31, 28 January 2006 
 * There was a thing like it with kids of about that age. I think it was a British show, but they were in the house for only about a week. I can't remember the name of it, but it was absolute chaos! AlbinoMonkey (Talk) 00:30, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
 * In the USA there is a Big Brothers Big Sisters of America organization where deprived children are linked with adult volunteers to provide some mentoring and companionship. There is a process of verifying the adults are people of good character, and there's lots more children in need of this than there are adult volunteers available.
 * Factual questions like this should be directed to the RD Reference Desk. The Help Desk is intended for questions about using and editing Wikipedia.

User:AlMac|(talk) 01:31, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
 * No, I'm quite sure this question was talking about "reality" TV ("could I be in it please?"). jnothman talk


 * I don't think I want to do a kid's big brother. I would like to do a kid's big sister, but only if she's over 18. J I P  | Talk 13:18, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

netherlands report
i need help finding biographical sketch of a governmental leader in the Netherlands for my school project


 * Hello, the current Prime Minister of the Netherlands is Jan Peter Balkenende. You may want to take a look at that article. RexNL 23:11, 28 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Hi. Or, if you are looking for a past govermental leader choose someone from Category:Prime Ministers of the Netherlands.--Commander Keane 00:14, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

Image metadata template
I'd like to edit the template for the metadata table that appears on the image page... only I can't figure out where it lives. Is there any way I can get to that? &mdash;Chowbok 23:14, 28 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I think the metadata is actually stored in the image file itself, and the table is generated by Wikipedia based on that. AlbinoMonkey (Talk) 00:26, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Thanks... I did realize that the metadata is extracted from the image, but I figured the table code, etc., was editable as a template somewhere. If that's not the case, to whom would I suggest changes? &mdash;Chowbok 00:49, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Possibly the Developers. Maybe ask on the MediaWiki IRC before anything. jnothman talk 23:52, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

= January 29 =

class="infobox bordered"
This edit of Template:Infobox Historic cricketer replaced a whole heap of parameters with class="infobox bordered". This works in the main part, but seems to have also redefined the cellpadding value, causing the cells to become cramped. The value was originally 4, and I can't find a way to "override" the value specified in this class. Is there a way to set the value to 4? AlbinoMonkey (Talk) 00:24, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

...even those without Internet access?
I can't find the answer to this question:
 * Is it Wikipedia's goal to reach even those without Internet access?

I hope someone can answer this. --Perfecto 03:39, 29 January 2006 (UTC)


 * I hope it is a goal. There's been talk about offline versions, and de: has been published on CD.  The whole thing should be published in print somehow, but the potential cost of that must be prohibitive at this point.  It would be the largest printed encyclopedia ever.  ‣ ᓛᖁ  [[Image:Venus symbol (blue).gif|♀]] [ ᑐ ] 04:57, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I believe it is a goal to some extents: Pushing to 1.0. - Akamad 09:30, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Memory errors
Has anyone else seen this error? This came up on a history page. ‣ ᓛᖁ  [ ᑐ ] 04:46, 29 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 8388608 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 233472 bytes) in /usr/local/apache/common-local/php-1.5/languages/Messages.php on line 759


 * This means the server's run out of memory while running the script (that particular script, Messages.php, just loads default language strings). You could leave the devs a note, but it's not much use without recording the time and which server the script was being executed on at the time. Next time you get this message, find out at least which computer was returning it by viewing the comment at the bottom of the page source. jnothman talk 12:16, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

using info from another website / newspaper
Itreid looking for this in the FAQ but I cant get a clear answer. I'm writing a article and I'm getting the info from other sources. should I 1)change the text completely so I'm just using there info but not their wording? 2) change it slightly? or 3) don't change the wording at all? thanks for the help Shlomke 11:29, 29 January 2006 (UTC)shlomke


 * Except for possibly quoting certain portions of opinion, you should rewrite the details, but not copy the text. When you copy out the facts, also cite them to the article you're using as a source. jnothman talk 12:12, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

about literature
This type of question belongs on the Humanities section of the reference desk. The help desk (this page) is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please [ click here] to post your question in its proper place. Thanks. -- Nataly a 13:44, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

flash
How does one embedd flash animations in MediaWiki? -- hello, i'm a member  |  talk to me!  21:20, 29 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Animations can be uploaded providing they put into GIF format. They can then be used as any other picture would: see Cycloid for an example of an animation being used. -- Nataly a  22:27, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

I mean Macromedia Flash. Is it allowed? -- hello, i'm a member  |  talk to me!  01:14, 30 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Files also indicates taht movies in OGG Theora format could be uploaded. But no, no Flash animations. jnothman talk 02:49, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Naming roses
How would a school go about naming a rose after a special teacher?


 * This type of question belongs on the reference desk. The help desk (this page) is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please follow the link to the reference desk, select the relevant topic, and post your question there. Thanks. -- Nataly a  22:29, 29 January 2006 (UTC)


 * The reference desk won't want this either.--  <small class="plainlinksneverexpand">Talk [ (add)] • Contribs • 01:15, 31 January 2006 (UTC)


 * A rose is a rose is a rose. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. So I don't think you need to bother. J I P  | Talk 18:02, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

= January 30 = These 2 pages have to be unifyed, they refer to the same artist. I am sorry I don't know the template to add. Mino da Fiesole and Mino di Giovanni. It is exactly the same sculptor. --Sailko 00:17, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I think you mean a merge. You can do it your self and put a redirect on the empty page.Banana04131 00:18, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Or if you think someone will disagree with the merge the templet is somewhere. . . Here we go.

Banana04131 00:23, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Authors
Dear receiver of this question, I need information on Gary Soto's "The Jacket". I need to find the quote that says, "The teachers pointed at me and were laughing at how stupid I looked in the jacket", or something that is close to that quote. I appreciate your help, thank you.


 * This type of question belongs on the Humanities section of the reference desk. The help desk (this page) is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please [ click here] to post your question in its proper place. Thanks. -- Nataly a  02:04, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Lower Back Pain Associated with C.O.P.D.
I have been experiencing extreme lower back pain after being on my feet for extended periods of time.The only relief is to sit down.Over the counter medications do little to help.Is this a common problem for C.O.P.D.sufferers?.Yes I am a helpless newbe.This site is new to me.Can anyone help?

Thanx, Perry


 * Wikipedia has a policy of not giving out medical advice. Also this is a help desk for questions relating to wikipedia, not for general topics. You might have more luck at Reference desk/Science but I doubt it. --Martyman- (talk) 06:20, 30 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Basically, the only (and best) medical advice Wikipedia can give is to recommend you contact a doctor. They know your medical history best and have learned for years to be able to ivnestigate someone's health problems. They are most qualified to help you. - 131.211.210.10 09:34, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Planned change
What issues should be considered in planned organizational change?
 * Can you be more specific in what you mean by that? -- King of Hearts | (talk) 00:15, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Is this a Reference Desk question, or does it relate to one of the Wiki articles? User:AlMac|(talk) 01:18, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

Image Question
If someone allowed me full clearance to use images here, with attribution, would that be acceptable? Pacific Coast Highway |<SUP>Leave a message ($.25)</SUP> 05:38, 30 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Technically they would have to allow you full clearance to let anyone use the image for anything with attribution. Just giving permission for it's use on wikipedia is not enough. --Martyman- (talk) 05:43, 30 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Ok, I'll see. Pacific Coast Highway |<SUP>Leave a message ($.25)</SUP> 05:57, 30 January 2006 (UTC)


 * I was told that I have the full "go-ahead", in the message. Thanks.  Pacific Coast Highway |<SUP>Leave a message ($.25)</SUP> 05:58, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Why are my username & my talk in red?
Red pages are pages that do not yet exist. If your username appears in red, then you have not yet created a userpage. Raul654 10:13, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Elvish tongues

 * Copied from contributing FAQ. I have alerted the user at her talk page. Graham/pianoman87 talk 11:45, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

This is probably not extremely useful to the entire encyclopedia except the few enthusiasts, but as we have the glossopoeist language Esperanto upon Wikipedia already can we not also incorporate certain Elvish dialects, as invented by Professor J.R.R. Tolkien? It would be a great opportunity for the languages to grow throughout continual editing- since I am well aware that Tolkien has not nearly finished constructing them when he departed from this world- while also giving a chance for linguists and a wider community to experience the sensation of glossopoeia. The number of articles able to be edited in these tongues may result in a problem but at least I believe most of the Tolkien- related articles should be fairly ready for changes and translation. ---User:Luthinya 12:59 27 January 2006


 * Hi Luthinya. I think 'Tolkien language Wikipedias' have been suggested before and I thought I saw that there was a 'Klingon language' one up already. Of the numerous languages Tolkien developed only Sindarin and (to a lesser extent) Quenya are detailed enough to enable extensive translation. Even so, extrapolations and entirely new words would have to be used in many cases. Unlike Esperanto or even 'Klingon' there has never been a population of 'Sindarin speakers'... in part because many of the principle linguists in the field are strongly opposed to expanding the language beyond the details Tolkien provided. David Salo, who provided the elven (and Dwarven) used in the recent LotR movies, is probably the main proponent of expanding the languages based on educated guesses - his book, Gateway to Sindarin, details many of these. Any sort of 'Elvish Wikipedia' would need such a lexicon which could be continually expanded and discussed... possibly a concurrent Wikibook project. --CBD ☎ ✉ 13:23, 30 January 2006 (UTC)


 * As I thought, this has beem discussed previously. Might be worth raising again though. Especially if a group of interested contributors can be gathered in advance. --CBD ☎ ✉ 13:40, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Maybe the user would like to take a look at Wikicities for Tolkien Languages and Lord of the Rings? HTH HAND —Phil | Talk 10:03, 31 January 2006 (UTC)


 * This conversation should move to the standard channels on Meta, since it really doesn't have anything to do with the English Wikipedia. See m:Help:How to start a new Wikipedia and the Wikipedia-l mailing list. --Kwekubo 02:16, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Downloading php
Every time I go to edit a page, it asks me to download the php file, which I know is a browser page file type. How do I get around this?
 * This is a known issue, and a bug report has been filed: 4475.
 * Suggested solution:
 * "You haven't enabled external editing, perchance? This would be rectified by changing your preferences (under editing options, "use external editor by default" or similar).
 * "As I'm 90% convinced that's what this is, I'm going to resolve WORKSFORME, but reopen if that's not the case." -- Ec5618 16:24, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Linking to Wikipedia
I'm pointing readers to wikipedia articles from my webpage, and the wikipedia page won't let the browser go back to my page... how do I fix this? (I'm using MS Word to write the page.)

Please email me if possible to fix. Thanks.
 * Removed email. This was posted to WP:VP/T, by 199.72.38.20. I'm not sure what the problem is, but perhaps someone here does. -- Ec5618 16:24, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Redlinked keyword searches
Is there a way to see a live feed of keyword searches to articles that don't exist?--Urthogie 16:50, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Also, another question, what does it mean if a picture of a lock is next to an external link.--Urthogie 20:23, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I don't know about your first question but I think a lock next to a link means the link has been protected by an administrator from being removed by vandals. Some one correct me if I'm wrong. Banana04131 03:17, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Is there any any way to give greek words for a search
Tryt he Greek Wikipedia. It's at http://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/ KILO-LIMA 17:29, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

HARD WATER
What is the amount of hard water levels in mg/l in the following parts of Virginia: Charlottsville, Virginia Beach and, Richmond. Also what is the amount of hard water in Washingto D.C. and the average well water?


 * This type of question belongs on the Science section of the reference desk. The help desk (this page) is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please [ click here] to post your question in its proper place. Thanks. DES (talk) 17:25, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

contributing the wiki
How to use the mathematical functions in wikipedia?


 * Help:Formula should give you all the information you need on using mathematical formulae in Wikipedia. -- Nataly a 17:59, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

abour warning
You are giving me a warning about changing what is on your website. I have never changed a thing on your site. The only thing that I come to your site is to get information & read it so that I can write my term papes for college.
 * It is most probably the case that you're editing under an anonymous IP that someone other has used as well. That someone has vandalised Wikipedia, and as you're both anonymous IPs, we can't tell you apart from each other. Please sign in for an account to get rid of this problem. J I P  | Talk 20:24, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
 * You use AOL(or an AOL proxy), and because AOL treats their customers like sheep, you all have the same IP address, and on the internet we can't differentiate between you because of this.--Urthogie 20:26, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Tracking abuse in recent changes
Hey. I have recently written a Python script that reads the atom feed of the recent changes and reports whether there were edits containing suspicious words such as '!!!' or 'rulez!'. I have asked Brion about whether this feature is going to be introduced anytime to the recent changes page, and he told me it is on the feature list but not for the near future. <BR> The question is whether there is such a program already in existence, that tries to identify abuse on pages, and I am wasting my time? If there are such scripts or programs, I would appreciate a link to them. <BR> My little script can be found here: http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%AA%D7%9E%D7%A9:Gloomy/WikiPolice <BR> Omer Enbar 22:13, 30 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Pages where you may get more response (asking on the talk page, that is) would be:
 * WP:TOOLS - Wikipedia tools in general
 * WP:CVU - the Counter-Vandalism unit (and its IRC channel)
 * Scripts - external scripts
 * WP:US - the user scripts (monobook.js sort of thing) WikiProject
 * בהצלחה, jnothman talk 22:45, 30 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Sounds a bit like Lupin's Anti-vandal tool.--Commander Keane 01:15, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

What was the first government building to be constucted?
Ask at Reference desk, but almost certainly it was a hut in central Africa. Mark1 22:51, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Note: Always make sure you indicate which country you are talking about when asking a question like this. - Mgm|(talk) 23:11, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

= January 31 =

Bans vs. Blocks
What's the difference between a ban and a block? I can't tell from the two pages. -- King of Hearts | (talk) 00:14, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
 * A block is a specific entry in the block list that a specific user ID or IP address is prevented from editing. A Ban is a rule, based on a decison by the community or some authoritative body, such as the board or the ArbCom, that a particualr person shall be prohibited from editing or restrictred in how that person edits. (for example a parson might be banned from a particualr article or group of articles.) Bans may be enforced by blocks, and by reverts and other measures. That is my understanding, anyway. Some people use the terms carelessly. DES (talk) 00:27, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Citation format for pre-ISBN book
I have a book that I want to cite as a reference work, but it has been out of print since 1928 and was never assigned an ISBN. I do have the Library of Congress catalog number. Would this be sufficient? Jtmichcock 01:32, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Short answer: yes. There are plenty of books which are cited as references without ISBN, often because whoever added the reference did not actually have the book to hand. The LoC number is probably your best bet after the ISBN, but adding the reference with or without is more important than getting the details right: they can always be corrected later. HTH HAND —Phil | Talk 10:08, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

How do I add a picture to my article?
The picture is on my computer, but I cannot figure out how to add it. Thank you!
 * Upload it here. If you have any further question you can post them here or on my talk page. Good luck. Pattersonc(Talk) 9:45 PM, Monday; January 30 2006 (EST)
 * To put an image into an article, see Image tutorial. -- King of Hearts | (talk) 05:41, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Also, please be sure that you have suitable copyright clearances (or that you own the picture and are willing to release it for all uses, including commercial). Images without correct copyright description just get deleted again, because Wikipedia can't afford to take a chance of getting sued. Notinasnaid 09:40, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

what is hybrib topology
I'm quite certain it's a typographical error for  hybrid topology. Pattersonc(Talk) 9:42 PM, Monday; January 30 2006 (EST)

Band websites
Hello. After viewing various band-related pages on Wikipedia, I noticed that there are different sub-pages which contain Band Discography and Band Members. How do I get those pages on a page I created?
 * Sub_pages, should answer all your questions. Good lick. Pattersonc(Talk) 9:47 PM, Monday; January 30 2006 (EST)
 * Actually, Subpages are never used for article content. If a band's discography needs its own article, then it won't be on a subpage. Example: The band Nine Inch Nails has its discography at Nine Inch Nails discography. If the band article is small, like Withering Soul, there is no need for separate discography or member subpages - just inlcude it in the main article. If you wanted to create a subpage in your userspace, however, you could do that by going to the url. Example: you want an /about subpage in your userspace. You would go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:William_Icari/about and click "Start the User:William Icari/about article"--Commander Keane 07:36, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

I misplaced my archive
I'm not a newb but did not know much about archiving talk page so I gave a shot by clicking move. I mispasted texts and had to redone it few times. In course of my mishap, I somehow manage to mislpace entire two pages somewhere else. I have no idea how I did it. Can someone help me recover the archive? Plus can someone tell me what I did wrong so I won't do it again? Please... FWBOarticle
 * I'm working on this. DES (talk) 16:23, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Problem fixed. DES (talk) 18:53, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Deleted / redirected article
Please see this talk page where a decision was made on deleting and redirecting an article. 

There could have been basis for the decision.

Now that I already have some more data about this article, what can I do to bring back the article, or change the redirection, so the article stands on its own. Many thanks. Thomas S. Major 08:48, 31 January 2006 (UTC)


 * You can use this edit page, and see the most recent version where the article subsisted on its own. jnothman talk 10:56, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks a lot, Jnothman. Here is the new article subsisting on its own. Feels good to resuscitate a dead article. Thanks again. Thomas S. Major 08:08, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

strange article
The Jello page looks funny to me. there are more things than are there.(look at the history) I see this Image:Immt.png while I think I should be seeing this Image:Screenjello2.gif. How is it possible?--Melaen 10:36, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
 * That's because someone vandalised Disambig: . enochlau (talk) 11:03, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

New articles
Is there anyway to create a new article if you are a user?
 * Yes, there is! Please see Why create an account? for more info.  Dismas|(talk) 14:29, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Once you've got that user ID, simply Type in the exact name of the article you want to create (Remember that capitalisation and punctuation matters) in the search bar on the left. Click GO.  The site will give you some options, including "Start this article," which is the link you want.  Click it, and you're all set.  Oh, and you can sign your comments here, and on talk pages, by typing in four tildes ( ~ )  :o)  <b style="color:#08457E;">tiZom</b><sub style="color:black;">(the man)  14:38, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
 * The other main way to accomplish this is to create a link to this page, which will render as a red link, like New page title. When you follow this link, you will be given the edit screen.  This is preferable over the above method, because it makes orphaned pages less likely.--   <small class="plainlinksneverexpand">Talk [ (add)] • Contribs • 16:03, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

How can I unscrunch an image thumbnail
I made a thumbnail of an image on page en:bruchsal. The image is an S-Bahn map and the thumb code resizes it to the width I specify but a height of next to nothing. How can I fix that? --Mmounties 15:45, 31 January 2006 (UTC)


 * I think it is a fault in the software since the original was extremely large. I've replaced it with a smaller jpg and the image appears. Dr Debug 02:32, 1 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I've uploaded smaller PNG versions of the maps (there are several) to Commons and deleted the JPG workaround. The original large maps are still in the file histories on Commons.  —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 20:13, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Category question
Sorry, but I just can't seem to figure out how to add info to certain "category" pages, for example adding my userpage to the category page "Wikipedians who hike" (there are other examples also). When I click on "edit this page", the information on the page does not display, so it cannot be edited. Are these protected pages?

Jeeb 17:13, 31 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Jeeb, put on the page you want to add to the category. The category pages themselves are automatically built from the list of pages which have the category listed on them. --CBD ☎ ✉ 17:37, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Brookshire Grocery Company
An Article for Brookshire Grocery Company comes up under the wrong title. It is filed under Brookshires Grocery Company instead of Brookshire Grocery Company. I see there is a redirect when people search for Brookshire Grocery Company, but Brookshires Grocery Company still comes up on the top of the page. Is there a way to correct this. Say to have the Brookshires Grocery Company search redirect to Brookshire Grocery Company?


 * Problem solved! The solution was to move Brookshires Grocery Company to Brookshire Grocery Company. You need to be logged in and have an account for 4 days to do a move - so coming to the help desk was your best option. Have a nice day!--Commander Keane 18:34, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Age limit for contributing?
Am I going absolutely bonkers, or am I correct in remembering reading somewhere that you're not supposed to contribute to Wikipedia if you're under 13 years of age? H e rmione1980 21:51, 31 January 2006 (UTC)


 * I don't think there's an age limit. If there is, that's for the parents to decide. Latinus 21:55, 31 January 2006 (UTC)


 * You're thinking of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, a US law which governs the private information of those under 13. Try making a new hotmail account, say you're nine and you live in the US, and see what happens.  Whether wikipedia needs to do something similar is a matter of legal interpretation. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 20:31, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

what kind of rifle
I don't know if you are the people that i need to be asking this, but you are the only web site that i found that i could ask a question about a rifle. i recently found the barrel assembly of a rifle, but i don't know what kind it is. the only name that i find on it is Colombia fuerzas militares. it has no stock or anything. i would like to find out what it is so that i can re-build it. can any-one help with this? if so my e-mail address is. thank you, allen mccormick


 * Ask at the reference desk. And don't post your email address. H e rmione1980 22:04, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

= February 3 =

Does user page profanity equal vandalism?
I reverted an edit by a vandal, and left the standard warning template at his user talk page. He has now come back and left profane comments and personal attacks on my user page and.

Does this count as vandalism? The Vandalism policy page says that replacing user pages with profanity is vandalism, but bullying, harassing, and making personal attacks is not. So I'm unsure if this would actually count as vandalism or not. eaolson 00:22, 3 February 2006 (UTC)


 * The edit is an insult and this is not a talk page either, it is you own page and you have every right to revert it. Dr Debug (Talk) 00:27, 3 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Of course, but should I warn the vandal again? I'm not going to leave what he wrote, but is it actual vandalism? eaolson 00:42, 3 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I already reverted the entry and warned him again. It's not a talk page (since the definition is about a talk page), but a user's personal page and I don't think that there should be insults there. I consider it vandalism. It was bad mannered anyhow especially since you warned him already and it was reapplied. Dr Debug (Talk) 00:54, 3 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Thanks! eaolson 04:02, 3 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I would definitly consider it vandalism. --Banana04131 02:41, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
 * blatantvandalism. The part of WP:VAND that you mention is there to try to stop users shouting "vandal" at each other during disputes about content; it doesn't cover this sort of trash. Physchim62 (talk) 03:01, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
 * It's vandalism. Defacing a user page, regardless of the new content, is vandalism. Stevage 23:11, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

disambiguation page
how do i create a disambiguation page, for example i want to create one for Ñandú to differentiate between Ñandú (birds also known as rheas) and Ñandú (the brand of mate) Atacama 11:07, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Try if Disambiguation offers any help and see how I coded disambiguation pages like Anubis (disambiguation) and Dummy (disambiguation). - 131.211.210.10 08:39, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

my user page
i want someone to write my page about me, for me. i DO NOT want to do it myself. Is there anyway to make this happen? Atacama 11:07, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

oh yeah and how do i link the "Playwright" page in the English version to the "Dramaturgo (profesión)" page in the Spanish version?

one more thing itd be nice if you could send the answeres to my talk pgae =) please, thanks you Atacama 03:13, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

Incivility in edit summary
Hi, if an anon, or even a registered user, engage in personal attack or use profanity in the edit summary, can that comment be removed, so that it does not appear in the edit history page? thanks. The example I found is in. -- Vsion (talk) 03:58, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
 * It could, but it requires a lot of work on the part of developers to directly edit an edit summary and often it's simply not worth it. Another option is for an administrator to delete the edit in question (which would mean temorarily deleting the whole article, then reinstating the good edits and leaving the one with the bad summary behind. - 131.211.210.10 08:42, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

Request
Hi, how do I make the picture on Snider-Enfield smaller and give it a caption? Hdstubbs 04:19, 3 February 2006 (UTC)


 * You can use the code below, it will appear like the image on the right. To modify the size, change the "300px" field to the desired size.

The page Images will have more information. --Vsion (talk) 04:29, 3 February 2006 (UTC)


 * See Picture tutorial for more options and details. DES (talk) 15:59, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

"no page" template
is there a discussion page for the template that comes up when you go to a red link? Dave 06:22, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
 * If I understood you correctly, no. It's a special page and there are no discussion pages for special pages. J I P  | Talk 06:48, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes there is, actually. See MediaWiki talk:Noarticletext and MediaWiki talk:Newarticletext.  —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 08:18, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

A couple of questions - how do I edit a title and how do I add links?
Hello, I just created Pokerealm and I'd like to make it so that it's PokeRealm, which is the correct captialization.


 * Done. Incidentally, you might want to check whether the site meets our notability guidelines for websites.  —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 08:26, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

Also, I'm trying to add external links to it but I can't figure out how!


 * You already did that once. Just typing any URL starting with "http://" creates a simple external link.  For more details, see Tutorial (External links).  —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 08:26, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Actually, he didn't. I fixed the link for him; previously, it was a broken URL link. -ZeroTalk 18:30, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

Many thanks.
 * Oh dear. Editing a title to correct a spelling mistake or wrong information can be done utilizing the move tab located at the top of the page, creating a re-direct. Making links to other wiki-pages is done by typing the name of the link in and surrounding it with . Making external links is done by copying the URL, inserting it in single bracketts ([]). You can also changes the outside depiction of the links to wikipages by using | to depict a different description that leads to the link, and making a space between the URL and the word you perfer in the single bracketts.-ZeroTalk 08:21, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Most people don't have the move button. Chris M. 12:10, 3 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I think you'd learn a lot from reading the Tutorial. Give it a try. :) - 131.211.210.10 08:43, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

Signature help
Is there anywhere specific I should go to get some help with making my signature work? I'm tearing my hair out, as it's STILL saying 'Invalid raw signature; check HTML tags'. The code is here: <span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none"> P r o t o <font color="#888800">|| <span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none"> t y p e It should end up looking like this: <span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none"> P r o t o  || <span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none"> t y p e

Now, the HTML is valid, and works, and I've gone through all the steps it outlines in WP:SIGHELP, and still no luck. I thought it might be the span tags, but it still doesn't accept it as a signature without them. Helllllp meeeeee. Proto | talk 13:04, 3 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Never mind, I've figured it out. It won't let you have more than one command in a   tag.  Ta da!    P r o t o    ||    t y p e    15:03, 3 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Now consider carefully the effect of having a signature that runs to several hundred characters and six lines of wikicode.... TenOfAllTrades(talk) 18:20, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

Changes to "what links here"
I try to watch the Alpha Phi Omega page pretty closely. I like to see what additional pages have linked every couple of days (in the "what links here"). However, while I can fairly easily count them (altering the URL for the First X #), it is difficult to see what ones have actually been added since the last time I looked. Is there any way other than looking at the history of the pages that do link there, to find out what the newest ones to link are? I know that the pages are in the order that they were added to the database, not the order in which they first made links to the Alpha Phi Omega page. Any ideas on how to see what links are the newest? Naraht 13:35, 3 February 2006 (UTC)


 * This is kind of an unconventional way, but when you click on a link and it changes color (as compared to the ones you have not yet visited), if you can keep it that way, it would at least let you know what pages you hadn't been to. The only fallback would be if a page you had already visited newly linked to the article. -- Nataly a  18:15, 3 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Thank you, I considered that, but difficult after the fact. :( And I'd have to do it on both machines where I work with Wikipedia. Naraht 21:10, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
 * One possibility might be to create a subpage of your user page (perhaps User:Naraht/ΑΦΩreferences), and everytime you want to check access, and yank and put the new list into your subpage. Diffing the current version to the last should then show the additions. -- Rick Block (talk) 16:24, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Cool idea! How do I do the yank? I can't edit the whatlinkshere page in order to copy the source. :( Naraht 23:06, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Glen L Martin XP6M-1
Martin XP6M-1 Seamaster

December 17, 1955 a Martin XP6M-1 Seamaster crashed in the Chesapeke Bay. Near what CITY?

November 9, 1956 a Martin XP6M-1 Seamaster crashed, I believe in the Delaware area. Near what CITY?

I have many articles that will identify the dates but not the locations of the crashes.

If you do not have this info, can you direct me to a site or paper that will have the info I am requesting.

Charles R Fieldhouse 18400 Foreston Road Parkton. Md. 21120 <email and phonme number removed>

This type of question belongs on the reference desk. The help desk (this page) is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please follow the link to the reference desk, select the relevant topic, and post your question there. Thanks.

External site using the Wikipedia logo
Couldn't figure out where to bring this up, so I'll do so here. Placeopedia uses Wikipedia data - apparently perfectly legally, under the GFDL. However, it also uses a version of the Wikipedia logo, which as I understand it is not GFDLed but is copyright to the Wikimedia foundation. How should this be handled, as it's clearly not a simple GFDL violation?

Another issue is that the site is being promoted directly on Wikipedia, with the use of placeopedia and. (I realise this probably ought to go to WP:CFD and WP:TFD, but I thought I should mention it here as well).

I'm assuming good faith - the site appears to be a non-profit making mashup, and it's probably just some people getting over-enthusiastic - but I do think these issues need to be sorted out, the logo especially. --OpenToppedBus - Talk to the driver 16:36, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
 * I've copied this to the misc section of the pump for more eyes. DES (talk) 18:36, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

Deletion
How do you delete your account? Thanks
 * You don't. Simply stop using it. J I P  | Talk 17:21, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

Variables
Is there a list of all the automatic variables (, etc. )? smurray   inch   e  ster  ( User ), ( Talk ) 19:45, 3 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Help:Variable lists them all. At least we hope that they are all there. Dr Debug (Talk) 19:48, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

My username tag is broken
My username tag used to look like this -- Dark fred Talk to me now it looks like this --&lt;strong&gt;Dark&lt;/strong&gt;fred &#91;&#91;User talk:Darkfred&#124;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Talk to me&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;]] 21:40, 3 February 2006 (UTC). As far as I can see its the exact same code. The tilde things just don't seem to be working for me anymore. Should i change it to a subsititution or is there some way to get around this?


 * Is it related to the Raw Signature setting. I think it should be enabled, because I currently have that option enabled. Dr Debug (Talk) 21:46, 3 February 2006 (UTC)


 * woot thanks -- Dark fred Talk to me 22:13, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

Attack page
Does anyone have any ideas on how I should deal with the page Miranda Prather? It is an obvious attack, but may or may not be true &/or notable &/or libellous. I don't want to get involved with any dispute myself, but I think it should be brought to the attention of the community somewhere. Is there an appropriate place for this type of problem? AndyJones 21:58, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
 * It seems to be a well-sourced article about a real event, and to report the facts in accord with multiple stories published in news media. I don't see it as an attack page. If you think it should be edited, simply be bold or commetn on Talk:Miranda Prather. If you think it isn't notable or encyclopedic, brign the matter to WP:AFD. DES (talk) 22:55, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes, I agree, it's harder to object to this article after all your hard work on it, and especially on the sources. Good work. AndyJones 12:16, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Can someone help me get a page to become searchable?
I added a page about artist Ryan Obermeyer and it doesn't show up when searched. Does anyone know how to do this? I would appreciate your help. Thank you... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Brent Beltin (talk • contribs).


 * The search engine is always running behind. The page shows when you press Go, but the index for the internal search engine takes a while to be updated, so it's not instant. Dr Debug (Talk) 01:21, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

= February 4 =

Links
Are everybody's linked no longer underlined? I can't find the "always underline links" box in my preferences anymore. Was this some MediaWiki thing? Or is it just me? Thanks in advance. -- LV <sup style="color:#3D9140;">(Dark Mark)  00:19, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
 * It's in the "Misc" tab in Preferences. enochlau (talk) 00:23, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Mine are still underlined. &mdash; Knowledge Seeker দ 00:24, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
 * I just don't get it. I have it set on "always", but "sometimes" it turns into "never". Screwy computers determined to destroy the sanity of us all. Darn you H.A.L.!!!! -- LV <sup style="color:#3D9140;">(Dark Mark)  00:25, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Mine quits underlining when it's --><-- thatclose to logging me off (usually within one or two page views) and when I'm not logged in. I wish underlined would be the default; it looks a lot better that way. H e rmione1980 00:39, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
 * If you're concerned about your preferences not playing ball, you can stick  to force all links to have underline always. enochlau (talk) 00:44, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Can my students use pictures from Wikipedia in a project
The answer is yes, for "free" images (check the licensing on the image page) but not for fair use images - but... I'm not sure, they might have to include a GFDL notice on it? enochlau (talk) 00:45, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
 * It depends on the picture. If the picture was origninally "free" (E.g. any image produced by the United States government is public domain), then they can copy it from here and use it all they want.  Other restrictions would apply to other images.  For instance, a corporation owns their logo.  We can use logos here to illustrate the article related to that company because our usage is considered fair use.  However, we don't have the right to give away their right to the logo.  Therefore, for you to use their logo, you must also use it under "fair use" or otherwise obtain permissison from the owner.  Sometimes, people provide content to Wikipedia under the GFDL license.  In that case, your students project would need to also include and comply with the GFDL. Note - I am not a lawyer. Johntex\talk 00:53, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Just one further point... if you click on any image you will be taken to the description page for that picture. Each image description page should include a notice describing the copyright status (as explained above) and how it can/cannot be used. --CBD ☎ ✉ 00:59, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

How to get rid of Contents box
How do you get rid of the contents box at the top of the page? --Weatherman90 02:14, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Add to the page. --CBD ☎ ✉ 02:16, 4 February 2006 (UTC)


 * That was easy..thanks! --Weatherman90 02:17, 4 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Do remember, though, that that's not a good idea for long articles. - Mgm|(talk) 09:46, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

morton deutsch submission
Hi, I started an entry on Morton Deutsch and inadvertently saved before I could finish. I had pasted in information from another site simply to remember the dates of his seminal publications. When saved it noted a copyright violation. The site is very unclear on how to get back to the original site and delete the material so that I can continue to work on and submit the original definition.

thanks —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Bigmack (talk • contribs) 02:30, 4 February 2006 (UTC).


 * If you click the "history" tab at the top of the page, you will get a list of the different versions of the page. Clicking the date of a version will show the article as it looked like then. If you click "edit this page" when viewing an old version, you will be able to edit the text and save it as a new version. Be sure to remove all copyrighted material this time. However, only Wikipedia administrators can delete old page versions from the page history. If I understand the Wikipedia rules correctly, it is not necessary to delete an old, copyrighted article version if it is replaced by entirely un-copyrighted material. //217.208.26.85 12:38, 4 February 2006 (UTC) (Essin on sv:)

P & ID
I want to know about International standard / Code use to draw P&ID ( Piping & Instruments Dig.)

can u help in this regard.

Thank you.

Best Regards,

Kedar

This type of question belongs on the reference desk. The help desk (this page) is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please follow the link to the reference desk, select the relevant topic, and post your question there. Thanks. --  <small class="plainlinksneverexpand">Talk [ (add)] • Contribs • 04:28, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

IP Addresses
Is there a way to discover what users edit under a certain IP address?--  <small class="plainlinksneverexpand">Talk [ (add)] • Contribs • 04:40, 4 February 2006 (UTC)


 * No, however if you suspect that a user and an IP are the same and they are being as a sockpuppet then you can report it at Requests for CheckUser. But a check can only be performed by a select number of people in case there is a problem. It is also related to the fact that many IPs are shared. Dr Debug (Talk) 04:45, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Making Links to Websites
Excuse me, how do I make a link to a website or a webpage of Wikipedia while either editing a new article or asking or answering a question?(I mean, without showing the URL on the article, question, or answer, just the name or subject of it?)

User:Bowei


 * You can make a link to a website by putting it in between brackets description which will appear as description.
 * An internal link can be made with two brackets, so Wikipedia will give Wikipedia, but if you want a different name type my description which will appear as my description. Dr Debug (Talk) 05:05, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
 * If you wish to use the URL as the display name, you can always just write it with no brackets: "http://google.com" and it will automatically render as a link.--  <small class="plainlinksneverexpand">Talk [ (add)] • Contribs • 17:06, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

The search box?
I found out that a lot of pages does not have the navitgation bar and the search box,and we have use the main page for searching articles.But some pages do! This problem appears in both Firefox and Internet Explorer. I had trouble viewing the articles in different languages without going to their own wikipedia website and searching!--Kirby-kun 13:39, 4 February 2006 (UTC) Hmm...I remember the wiki article for 'glaze' missed the navitigation bar and the search box.And of course,the links for other languages for the same article was not there as well.--Kirby-kun 12:40, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
 * As far as I know the search box (the one on the left) and the navigation are on every single page in the wiki. Which pages show problems for you? Perhaps, you're just impatient they're the last thing to load, especially in long pages like the help or reference desk. Secondly, the search box is only for the English Wikipedia and articles aren't always linked to their counterparts in other languages (it's done manually), so that would explain how it's harder to find stuff in another language. - Mgm|(talk) 21:01, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Questions and How They Are Answered
OK, I put in my log in information, and then followed links about newcomers to a page that had me put in my newcomer comments/information. When I saved it, it was displayed on a long page with a lot of other newcomer information. The rest of them had blue or orange links, and mine did not. Why? How will I get an answer to the question? Is it the "four tildes" thing? You mean right here, like this: auntb93 17:05, 4 February 2006 (UTC)


 * It looks like you solved it yourself! To sign your name with the date, put four tildes - "~" .  To sign just your name, put three tildes - "" . -- Nataly a  17:28, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

How do I write an article?

 * How to start a page.
 * Tutorial. - Mgm|(talk) 21:02, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Taking credit for anonymous edits?
I couldn't exactly find what I was looking for in the FAQ, so here goes. Since last autumn, I've edited anonymously from a shifting IP address. Now that I have a username, is there any legitimate way to attribute my old edits?--Buinne 20:55, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Only if it can be determined without a doubt those edits are yours, so changing attribution of edits from a shared IP cannot be changed. See Changing attribution for an edit. - Mgm|(talk) 21:04, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Comunication between French Girls Scoute and American Girls Scout
Please help with this question

Can a 9 years old American Junior Brownie Girls Scout communicate with one French Girl Scout about the same rank by e.mail to exchage their own ideas about Scoutism and about their troop? I believe this would be a great way to learn different ideas and they could do this in their own language, and share each converstion with their troop.

If yes? What are the proper procedures?


 * This may well be a very good idea, but unfortunately this is not the site to arrange it; it's an online (free and editable) encyclopedia, not an international pen-pal site or a Girl/Boy Scout sister chapter program. *Dan T.* 22:40, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Table woes
I'm currently fixing up a lot of football articles and, in doing so, am making templates to put at the bottom of relevant pages.

I've done fine so far by just cannibalising pre-existing templates, but now I'm stuck. I have been experimenting in my own sandbox and have come up with this one:

User:Nach0king/Sandbox

As you can see, it's a bit of a mess.

The three lists are fine. Even the stuff at the top is fine. But every time I try to make the two run together (i.e. with no paragraph space between them) it formats very badly. Also, I'd like the image to "float" next to the North text so the grey box at the top takes up less space, like in this example:

If anyone could help, I'd be very appreciative! Nach0king 22:32, 4 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I've put in a test on your sandbox. Dr Debug (Talk) 23:25, 4 February 2006 (UTC)


 * That's it, exactly. THANK YOU! Nach0king 23:36, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Muslim Cartoons
Has Wikipedia created a policy around pictures that discriminate against people? Wiki e Zach 22:33, 4 February 2006 (UTC)


 * It has a policy demanding a Neutral Point of View for all articles, which would cover anything that one-sidedly promotes a discriminatory viewpoint, whether by text or image. However, in coverage of a controversial issue which involves strong (and discriminatory) viewpoints being expressed outside this site, depiction of such things may be on-topic here as long as it is done in an overall-balanced article which also covers the opposing viewpoints.  Articles about Nazism will include symbols such as the swastika, because they are a historical part of this issue, despite some taking offense at seeing them. *Dan T.* 22:38, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Different font in a userbox
I received a question from Pojojo but I need help in answering it.


 * In Harry Potter userboxes, how can you change the Letters to old english letters.

An example might be User Gryffindor, how do we change the "G" to a different font? Keeping in mind that we don't want to change the size of the userbox.--Commander Keane 22:43, 4 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Old English fonts aren't part of the normal fonts. MacIntosh used to include German Gothic fonts though which are almost the same, but I'm not sure nowadays. That means that G is therefore not a solution. What you can do is make transparant .gifs which have the letters in the proper font size. There is a free old English font for Windows and Macintosh at http://www.uk-genealogy.org.uk/resources/font.html Dr Debug (Talk) 23:06, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Are there any other good fonts:Old gothic,roman. Where can i view fonts. Pojojo 09:57, 5 February 2006 (UTC)