Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2006 December 7

= December 7 =

Uploading a Picture
I have tried to upload a picture to my wikipedia article "Darren Gilbert" but each time I try to upload it as a file, I end up not seeing it on my page -- even though the upload appears to have been accepted.

What am I doing wrong.

I just want a pic of me on my page.

Thanks.

Darren Gilbert 
 * For one, there is no "ownership" of Wikipedia articles (anything you write is relased via GFDL anyway), so it would not be a good idea to refer to "your" article. In this case, anyway, no article with that name exists, so that may be your first problem with your image issue.  However, without telling us where your image is located or where you are trying to put it, it's difficult to answer your question.  — K  e  akealani  00:19, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * The page in question is the user's user page User:Darren Gilbert. Darren, to understand how to upload images onto Wikipedia, take a look at Uploading images, and how to then place them into an article, Picture tutorial. Hope that helps. &mdash; QuantumEleven 09:01, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Where's the right place to ask about specific articles?
I'm not sure if I should ask here or at the village pump, because the village pump seems to be about more serious issues and policies. For example, Mark Latimer has a press comments section that are just out of context quotes, a bit like something on a movie poster. Even though they're taken fom well-known publications, they seem out of place on Wikipedia because I think it makes the article non-neutral.

I guess I've asked the question now, but in future if I wanted to ask more experienced users opinions on an article, where's the best place? I know the help desk is for editing so it's probably nothere. Thanks 172.189.150.172 00:57, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Click on the "discussion" or "talk" link at the top of the article's page. Every article has a related talk page to discuss the article. --Kainaw (talk) 01:00, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * That's only works with the more popular articles, very few people check the talk pages of obscure articles and even less reply to them (and I have tried asking on talk pages many times in the past). The only person to edit Mark Latimer's article for months is the same person who added the press quotes, so even if they replied their answer would likely be biased. 172.189.150.172 01:28, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * You could try a relevant Wikiproject - the list of them is here. You should be able to find more active editors there. --Sam Blanning(talk) 01:41, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Alternatively, you can be bold and remove the section yourself. --Sam Blanning(talk) 01:42, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * If you're looking for a factual answer, you can always try the Wikipedia Reference desk. Make sure to mention that you're asking in connection with a given article (eg "I read X in article Y and have a question...") &mdash; QuantumEleven 08:56, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Hi, it's me Darren. I now made an article on me. Again I am having difficulty with the picture upload. It is just a pic of my face from my webcam. This is the link to it : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Wikipedia_Pic1.jpg. I will try to figure it out from the tutorial but it does seem complicated. There is no copyright issue on this pic and I stated so when I made it. I just can't get it on my article page on "darren gilbert". Can you help? You can upload if you wish.

revert
how do i revert a page to its last edit? Steevven1 (Talk) (Contributions) 02:58, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Please see Help:Reverting. -- Rick Block (talk) 03:27, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Indirect references
Say I want to use a quote, but I don't have the book it comes from. I have a second book that quotes the first. So, do I reference the second book, use the reference the second book has to the first, or get the first book? Clarityfiend 06:31, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * If you have the choice, always credit the first book. It avoids any errors the second book may have made in quoting the first, and saves the person (and, perhaps at some point, you) the extra step to get to the original source material. &mdash; QuantumEleven 08:55, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * If you don't have the first and can't find the neccesary details to cite it, by all means cite the second one, but please make an effort to get your hands on the first one. Perhaps you have a library nearby? - Mgm|(talk) 09:08, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * If I remember from high school, they told us to quote both if possible. -Patstuarttalk 09:55, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * It depends on the particular style (APA, MLA, etc.) in which you are writing. I am most familiar with APA and there is definitely a particular manner in which one cites material that is itself cited from or in another source.  It would not be acceptable in an APA-style paper to simply cite the original source if you can not locate or access it to verify the secondary citation or quote.  --ElKevbo 22:10, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Posting poetry in justified columns
I just posted an article about 19th century poet Amelié Louise Rives that included several poems. They were pasted in justifed left format but came out in a prose/paragraphic form. How would I prevent this? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Stan Flouride (talk • contribs) 06:49, 7 December 2006 (UTC).
 * I have put one of the poems in a table as an example.--Fuhghettaboutit 07:27, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

What is the copyright status of the User namespace?
If I create a page under the User namespace, is it copyright (all rights reserved, with the reasonable minimum license that I've agreed to have it displayed at that URL, for the time being) or have I released it under the GFDL? From the other end of this, can a Wikipedia article in the main space use content freely from pages in the User space, or should they first get permission and/or get the user to contribute it under the GFDL? Thank you for your expert advice.--Peter Kirby 08:29, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Userspace is released under GFDL, just like any other page on Wikipedia. Therefore, you can copy userspace info into articles (at least without violating copyright; it may be a bad idea for other reasons) as long as you credit the original author in the edit summary. --ais523 08:33, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Can edit history be removed?
The edit history for an article contains some personal information that I consider to be inappropriate (i.e. identification, by name, of a minor child involved in a controversy). Is there a process to request that the information be removed from the edit history? Ronnotel 14:26, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Oversight may be what you are looking for.  Big Nate 37 (T) 14:34, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Thanks. Ronnotel 14:35, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Perhaps this information should be more prominently displayed - i.e. I couldn't easily find it in FAQ's. Ronnotel 14:37, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Usually users visit the administrator's noticeboard when there is sensitive information which needs removing. Many folks there are quick to refer users to WP:OVER. Other than that, if you feel it should appear on the FAQ, try suggesting it there or adding it.  Big Nate 37 (T) 15:40, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Watch list questions
How do I figure out what the people that edited articles on my watch list did? All I can figure out is that they did something to it. Is there a certain button that I can press that will show me exactly what was done to the text in the past 24 hours or the past few edits? Pyromancer102 10:25, 7 December 2006


 * The (diff) link at the start of a line on your watchlist links to the difference between their change and the previous version. For instance, this is the diff that I saw on my watchlist that alerted me to your question here. If you view the page history you can select multiple changes at once for viewing in a "diff". Check out Help:Page history for more on that.  Big Nate 37 (T) 15:37, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the help there. I hope to make Wikipedia a safer place for articles with this knowledge. Pyromancer102 15:28, 7 December 2006

Can I record Vocals?
A friend gave me this some years back...I have been looking at PC recording...can I record vocals and other instruments, guitar, keyboard, etc. on the PropellerHead? Gwendolyn Daniels —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.15.145.102 (talk) 16:54, 7 December 2006 (UTC).
 * If ProppellerHead is a software program, I suggest you use google or another search engine and see if you can find a forum! You'd probably find more information there than on Wikipedia :) Bjelleklang -  talk 17:24, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Parental controls on wikipedia
Google and Yahoo! provide a method to limit searches to content which is appropriate for children. Does Wikipedia have a similar facility? Specifically, appending &safe=active to the search URL for google will enable its "Safe Search" feature. Is there something similar I can do for Wikipedia? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 15.235.153.105 (talk) 17:02, 7 December 2006 (UTC).
 * No. Wikipedia is not censored. --Wo o ty Woot? contribs 17:07, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * You could try searching wikipedia with Google, which seems like it would exclude certain things. Whether Google would allow an encylopedic article on pornography to appear or not, I don't know. Of course, searching with Google means you'll get hits that are not articles, such as help pages and Wikipedia project pages.  Big Nate 37 (T) 17:13, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * It's kind of hard to restrict results without knowing what you think is appropriate for kids. Your best bet is using parental control software. - Mgm|(talk) 20:48, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

How to become a moderator?
What do I have to do to become a moderator? If you somehow look at my contributions, you will see that I make alot of reverts and it would make me proud to become an authority figure on Wikipedia. Vandals are a pain to all that is Wikipedia and all the help possible is needed to remove them. Please tell me if and how to become a moderator. Eiyuu Kou 18:37, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * I think you are talking about Administrators. The candidates need to go through a Request for adminship. People then decide through consensus whether a candidate can be made admin or not. I would advise you to look at some current and past requests to get an idea of what people look for in an admin candidate. &mdash; Lost (talk) 18:44, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Thank you. I guess I will wait for somebody to nominate me, if that would happen. I wouldn't know what to put in for the request because I would mainly focus on reverting and warning/blocking vandals. Eiyuu Kou 18:45, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

How can I get information about Goverment Grants with having a credit card
Please enlighten me about Goverments grants, How Do I go about getting a personal grant to help me out of a jam —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Elliot Mayfield (talk • contribs) 18:52, 7 December 2006 (UTC).


 * You might find more help at the Reference desk; this page is only for questions about how to use Wikipedia. Essjay   ( Talk )  20:36, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * When asking on the Reference desk, include which government you are referring to. If you assume everyone knows, the people there will likely "assume" you are referring to something like the government of Tuvalu. --Kainaw (talk) 20:39, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Cannot edit text I added
In the article I just edited (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Darquier_de_Pellepoix), I added a paragraph at the end of the previously existing article, thus expanding the scope of information presented there. When I reread my contribution, I tried to make a small change in my paragraph. When I clicked the [Edit] link on the right side of the page (far to the right of the text "Notes and references"), I saw only the Notes and references, not including any of the text I added.

Further, I sought (unsuccessfully) another [Edit] link above the text of the article. Is there a way for me to edit the text I added to the article? If so, how? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ruffwiki (talk • contribs) 18:54, 7 December 2006 (UTC).


 * Welcome to Wikipedia! To edit that particular portion of the text, just click on the 'edit this page' tab at the top of the page. Looking at that paragraph, however, I would suggest that instead of including the information in the body of the article, it would perhaps be more useful as a reference in the Further Reading section. Generally, including a suggestion that the reader seek out a specific (as-yet-unpublished?) book review in the body of the article is frowned upon. Cheers! Tony Fox (arf!) 19:20, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Hooge (hallig) vs Hooge, Germany
I have found the two articles above, which appear to have been identical until I edited one. One should probably redirect to the other, but the one I edited so it is now hopefully slightly better (Hooge, Germany) probably has the more poorly chosen name.

What is the wikipedia procedure for resolving issues of this nature? Gnfnrf 19:57, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Thanks for pointing this out I redirected to your version as there is no point in having two of the same article. &mdash; Seadog 19:59, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * To resolve this sort of thing, you can use mergeto and mergefrom. Simply overwriting one with a redirect is okay for non-controversial merges. If the worse of the two titles has the most GFDL history and/or content, you can still make the merge without admin rights, but it is tricky.
 * Move the sub-par article that is at the good title to a new name that has no article (something that will make sense as a redirect to the article later e.g. Hooge (Germany) or Hooge hallig)
 * Move the good article from the not-so-good title to the good title (since the good title is now just a redirect with no history, any user should be able to do this)
 * Merge the sub-par article's content into the good article, which includes making it into a redirect to the article
 *  Big Nate 37 (T) 20:26, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Links
I know I'm able to put Wiki links in the "edit summary" field of the edit page (i.e. Wikipedia . But how do I do it for usernames and IP addresses, when saying something like, "Reverted back to edit made by [ [User:xxx.xx.xx.xx]] --Micahbrwn 20:28, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Play around with piping and the preview (which lets you preview the formatted summary too now). For instance, an edit summary of
 * Reverted edits by Micahbrwn to last version by 127.0.0.1
 * would display as
 * (Reverted edits by Micahbrwn to last version by 127.0.0.1)
 * and would link to your userpage and the contributions page for the anonymous user.  Big Nate 37 (T) 20:35, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

CatScan, toolserver, argh
I am so hamstrung when I can't use Duesentrieb's CatScan tool, or Stub Sense, and I've been leaving messages all over the place on Meta-Wiki with no success. Wah! Does anyone know anything at all about the prospects of the enwiki database on toolserver? Or will that only be a non-English-database site forever and ever, the end?? *sigh* Thanks for letting me rant. BTW, this is what I get when I try to use CatScan. ****sigh**** Her Pegship 20:50, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Shiva vandalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva

Can someone please remove the offense nonsense "poopy doo doo poopy" that was added to the beginning of this article?


 * Thank you for bringing that to attention. It has already been removed. &mdash; Seadog 20:58, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Protect or Semi-Protect an article
Hey, I've been wondering how you can make an article protected or semi-protected so that only administrators or users can edit it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Lamboman (talk • contribs) 21:40, 7 December 2006 (UTC).

Never mind. I figured it out. Lamboman 21:42, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

WP:CFDS
What is a normal time lag at WP:CFDS? I have had some things posted there for 2.5 days. TonyTheTiger 21:54, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Problems seeing locator maps in infobox
I am experiencing a bit of a problem. Whenever I view a page that contains the Template:Infobox Protected area in Mozilla Firefox (v 2.0), the locator map does not appear. Instead there is just a gray line. I can view the map just fine when I access the page using Internet Explorer. I've never had this problem before, it surfaced just a few days ago. Does anyone have any insights on what might be the cause of this issue? Thanks, --Nebular110 22:23, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Using Academic Sources
I am an engineering student interested in adding engineering information to Wikipedia. However, I have learned most of it from textbooks. Would I be able to cite my textbooks as a source for formulas and such as long as I am not just straight copying the text, or would this still be a violation of copyright and fair use laws? Thanks!

orangehatbrune 22:26, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * No, citing textbooks is encouraged. As long as the text you write is yours it doesn't matter if it is expressing the same facts. --Cherry blossom tree 22:29, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * I've actually got a list of my textbooks on a subpage in my userspace, User:BigNate37/Library, for just that reason.  Big Nate 37 (T) 22:56, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Login successful, but then "Not logged in"
I have created an account on en.wikipedia.org, and I can log in successfully. But then when I go to any other page (e.g. "Upload file" or "my preferences") I get an error page, "Not logged in".

Yes, I have responded to the activation email. Yes, I have read the FAQ and the "Help:Logging in" page. Yes, I have cookies enabled, including third-party cookies. Yes, I checked the "Remember me" box. Yes, my date and time are set correctly. No, I'm not running any firewall or ad-blocking software. (I have a hardware firewall that knows nothing about cookies.)

I have experienced this problem with both Opera 7.54 and Firefox 1.5 browsers under Linux OS. 67.142.130.28 22:38, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * This can happen with some ISPs. Try connecting through the secure server, and see if that helps. Prodego  talk  22:41, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

That seems to have solved it! Thank you. (For what it's worth, my ISP is HughesNet.) 67.142.130.28 22:58, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Does Psychology/rewrite need to be deleted or turned into a redirect?
The page Psychology/rewrite apparently needs to be deleted or turned into a redirect (please see comments on Talk:Psychology/rewrite). The situation is further complicated by the fact that the page used to be named Psychology (rewrite), and that version deleted. I'm not sure what the policies are with regard to this or what action is most preferred in this case. Perhaps the deletion of Psychology (rewrite) and archiving(?) it at Psychology/rewrite was the preferred action. (But if it was, some notice placed on that page and on the Talk page would seem to be prudent.) If an admin could take a look at this and get back to me on Talk:Psychology/rewrite and/or on my Talk page, I'd appreciate it. Thanks. - Do c  t  orW  22:52, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * The history of who edited the rewrite page needs to be retained, so it's either a history merge or a redirect. Placing a redirect is by far the easiest option. - Mgm|(talk) 00:08, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

link to image on commons
What is the syntax to link to an image posted on the commons? 71.100.6.152 23:00, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * If there is no local image (i.e. on Wikipedia) of the same name the standard image link [[Image:Example.jpg]] will link to the commons image.—WAvegetarian&bull;(talk) 23:11, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * This syntax does not work! That is with the underscore separator that is used to name the file rather than the image. Thanks. Adaptron 23:20, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * For a good example of using an image from commons here on Wikipedia, check out Image:Citrus fruits.jpg as used in the citrus article.  Big Nate 37 (T) 00:04, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Can an edit history be transferred to a page that already exists?
The article essayist consists of just a definition (see essayist) and a "see also" section. I want to turn it into a redirect page toward List of essayists and am wondering if it's possible to transfer the edit history. From what I've been able to gather, "essayist" was merged into "List of essayists", but the edit histories stayed separate. Same for "essayists" (plural) -- the article's content was transferred (not moved) to "essayist" (singular), but the edit history was not. If it is possible, is this something I can do (please direct me toward the appropriate WP instructions page) or is it up to an admin? Thanks in advance. Black Falcon 23:13, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * It's either very difficult for admins, or takes a developer with database access to merge histories or something like that. History tweaking is not done at all except under very special circumstances, and never by standard users. Just make one page redirect to the other, and mention the source of merged content so others can find the edit history—either with your edit summary or on the talk page. That's pretty much standard procedure, check out Merging and moving pages.  Big Nate 37 (T) 00:03, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for your help. Black Falcon 04:40, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Merging edit histories is pretty easy for admins if they know how to do it, but it can be laborious. Simply merging and redirecting works fine. - Mgm|(talk) 00:05, 8 December 2006 (UTC)