Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 April 6

= April 6 =

What happened to the article for The Big Idea?
I remember a few months ago seeing an article about the reality TV series, The Big Idea. I tried to find it again because I wanted to see who won the show, but I got an article about Ruth Badger instead, which has a small section about the show in it. Was the article for The Big Idea deleted? I don't know why it's on Ruth Badger's page now because she wasn't very important on the show and was only one of the judges. 172.202.28.16 00:13, 6 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I suggest reading The Big Idea page history and Talk:Ruth Badger. I have no information on the subject that is not on those pages. -- Cyrius|&#9998; 01:16, 6 April 2007 (UTC)


 * (Edit conflict) The Big Idea (last version) was merged into Ruth Badger on February 1 (diff). The merger proposal at Talk:Ruth Badger received no comments in 5 days and was then performed by the editor who suggested it. PrimeHunter 01:20, 6 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Don't editors need to have a good reason to merge articles? Or at least a sensible reason? This is a bit like merging American Idol into Paula Abdul's article. Thanks for your replies though, I understand what happened now, but not why it happened. 172.202.28.16 01:44, 6 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Appears the editor skimmed the text on Merging and moving pages, because that page states:

If you are uncertain of the merger's appropriateness, you should propose it on the affected pages. After sufficient time has elapsed to generate consensus or silence (at least 5 days), you may perform the merger or request that someone else do so. No conversation was generated at the talk page, let alone a consensus. One person doesn't make a consensus. --67.142.130.25 02:22, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * That means there's at least 3 people (including me) who would've opposed a merge if they had noticed the merge proposal. I think that makes for ample reason to undo the merge. - Mgm|(talk) 12:32, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Presumably, the people who edited the affected pages might have something to say about a proposed merger, but they won't necessarily check the talk pages of the affected pages within the five-day period. In addition to proposing the merger on the article talk pages, the proposer should also leave a note on the user talk pages of some or all of the users who edited the affected pages, calling their attention to the discussion and inviting them to participate. I certainly don't go around checking the talk pages of every article I might have an opinion about, and I can't imagine many other people do. Sounds like time to put a suggestion on Wikipedia talk:Merging and moving pages, or at least ask why the guideline doesn't say to contact editors directly. --Teratornis 14:33, 6 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Oh, upon reading WP:MM, I see one part of the page contradicts a later part:
 * WP:MM:
 * If you are uncertain of the merger's appropriateness, you should propose it on the affected pages. After sufficient time has elapsed to generate consensus or silence (at least 5 days), you may perform the merger or request that someone else do so.
 * WP:MM:
 * After proposing the merger, place your reasons on the talk page and check back in a couple of weeks for a response. You may be able to invoke a response by contacting some of the major or most-recent contributors via their respective talk-pages. If there is clear agreement after two weeks that the articles should be merged (or no response after four weeks), proceed with the merger.
 * Evidently WP:MM needs editing to bring the contradictory instructions in line. I will ask on its talk page for someone to clarify what the real procedure is, although the second statement above makes far more sense than the first. --Teratornis 14:50, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

HTML colours
What is the HTML code for a dark red colour? Also, what is the HTML code for a lime green colour? FictionH 01:04, 6 April 2007 (UTC)


 * See Maroon (color) and Lime (color) --antilivedT 01:14, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * For more information about HTML colors see HTML color names. If you want a more specific color other than the basic 16, see Web colors. --YbborTalk Survey! 01:22, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Use this website to display whatever colour you want; while it is primarily for matching, it displays the hexadecimal of your chosen colour. Note: IE only, unfortunately. Adrian M. H.  13:45, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Can't stay logged in
First off, it's a fluke that I got it to let me edit under my name. Ok, I have tried the following to try to stay logged in:
 * Wipe Cookies
 * Wipe Cookies and Cache
 * Add en.wikipedia.org to trusted cookies list, then wipe Cookies and Cache.
 * Override cookie settings with allow, allow, yes to session cookies, then then wipe Cookies and Cache.
 * Wipe Cookies, Cache, manually wipe cookies and cache, and the entire TEMP folder in Local Settings.
 * Reboot computer, then Wipe Cookies and Cache.

Some have resulted in allowing edits under my name, but then a few pages later I would have to mess around with it for a while before it would allow a few (6-0) pages, edits or not. I'm running 6.0.2900.2180.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519, with service pack 2, on Windows XP Professional. (Ha, no wonder. In coping the version, I found this: "Based on NCSA Mosaic." wait for it... "NCSA Mosaic(TM); was developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign." Yeah. Explains a lot...) I am not an admin, and a .exe file blocker is installed (No, I DO NOT own this computer.) Does anyone have any ideas? (Other than "Get Firefox", cause I don't have any real privlages.) (Or safari, or opera, or AOL browser X.X, or netscape, or linux ones, or [Insert another browser here] .) --Andrew Hampe Talk 01:37, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Other than trying secure.wikipedia.org, Firefox can run without registry entries/installation, google "firefox portable" :) -Wooty Woot? contribs 02:19, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * There is no secure.wikipedia.org, and i can't run any .exe s and firefox is a exe! READ BEFORE POSTING! --67.142.130.25 02:25, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I believe its secure.wikimedia.org actually, there should be a link to it near the bottom of the WP:VPT FAQ box. Mr.Z-man  talk ¢ 02:32, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

This might also help from the WP:VPT FAQ. mattbr 08:56, 6 April 2007 (UTC) "Some ISPs use transparent proxies which cause problems logging in. If you find that you are automatically logged out just after you have logged in, and removing all your Wikipedia cookies does not fix the issue, try using the secure server (much slower) to bypass the proxy. This happens most often with some satellite ISPs (particularly HughesNet/DirecWay/DirecPC)."
 * Figures, that's the exact service i use... --Andrew Hampe Talk 15:47, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

rollback?
Something weird is happening with watchlist - seems to have rolled back a few hours?? Tvoz | talk 04:41, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Same here with my watchlist. Postoak 04:46, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * good to know - I thought I was hallucinating.... Contributions is ok though.  Weird. Tvoz | talk 04:51, 6 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I have the same problem with the watchlist myself, and after having rolled back it got frozen, which means no new edits are been listed. Kazu-kun 04:51, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Hmm- mine is changing, but about eight hours behind if I'm doing the math right, showing edits that were made hours ago. Mine's up to 20:39 UTC (it's now 4:53 UTC) Tvoz | talk 04:55, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes, I'm also looking at the edits I made 8 hours ago. Postoak 04:57, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * See WP:VP/T-- VectorPotential Talk 18:47, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Logging in changes the layout/theme of entire site
The Wikipedia site, in my opinion, looks very professional and elegant. For some reason whenever I am logged in, the site changes its looks, and it goes to a different "theme" it seems. The layout of the site changes, and the appearance is very different. I do not like the way the site looks when I am logged in.

Does this make sense, and how do I keep the site looking nice (the way it is when I'm not logged in) when I am logged in?

Thanks, --TennBikeBerk 06:36, 6 April 2007 (UTC)


 * You can change the appearance of the site (the skin) in your preferences. It sounds like this has been changed, so you need to change it back to the default, 'MonoBook', which you can do in the 'skins' section. Try this link if that doesn't work. Hope that helps, mattbr 08:50, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Also see Help:Skin. --Teratornis 18:49, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Creating new pages
how do i create a new page? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Quickstick003 (talk • contribs).
 * See Help:Starting a new page, and you might find this list of policies and guidelines helpful. Happy editing, mattbr 08:50, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

electronics
i want information about diode IN4148.wd its working59.92.197.41 11:02, 6 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Hi there! This page is for people asking questions about how to use Wikipedia. However, a simple Google search found me this page: IN4148-1 dioda data sheet. Hope that helps! If not, you may want to ask at the Science reference desk for more help. &mdash; QuantumEleven 11:27, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

creating protected pages
I want to know how to create protected pages in order to contibute valuable sources. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ishwaramutham (talk • contribs)
 * That would go against the ethos of Wikipedia. You have to bear in mind that whatever anyone publishes here is (a) not under their control or ownership, (b) openly licensed under GFDL, and (c) editable by anyone. Protection is only used when an article, template, or other content has been subject to repeated vandalism. Even then, it is used judiciously and is only applied by admins upon request. Adrian M. H.  14:15, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

mechanical engg
actually i want to make a project based on mechanial. but i am unable to do so.please tell something about this

Is there a list of all cases (disputes among Wikipedians) that have gone to arbitration? Thanks. Mpoulshock 13:21, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

List of arbitrated cases
Is there a list of cases (disputes among Wikipedians) that have gone to arbitration? Thanks. Mpoulshock 13:22, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Requests for arbitration/Completed requests - and its a big page, slow to load depending on your connection. KillerChihuahua?!? 13:34, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks! Mpoulshock 13:37, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

mechanical engg
actually i want to make a project based on mechanical. but i am unable to do so.please tell something about this

i also want to know the concept of drawing figure in manual drawing?
 * Do you mean a Wikiproject? Adrian M. H.  15:25, 6 April 2007 (UTC)


 * There seems to be no Wikiproject specifically about mechanical engineering. The Mechanical engineering article is under WikiProject Technology, according to its talk page. For information about starting a WikiProject, see WP:PROJGUIDE. For the second question, see Technical drawing, Engineering drawing, and Computer-aided design.
 * If we are misinterpreting your question, please disambiguate. Exactly what do you mean by "project"? What do you mean by "unable to do so"? Did you get an error message? List the exact steps you followed, specifically enough so a distant stranger can repeat them, and the full text of any error message you received. --Teratornis 18:46, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Edits in deleted articles
Hi, I've been here over a year, and one of the things I like to do is stub sort the newer articles, and often I tag some with or. With that in mind, I was wondering, if there's a way to find out if any articles I've edited have been deleted? Though I'm sure it was rightfully so, it would still be interesting to see which ones. — Jack · talk · 13:41, Friday, 6 April 2007

There's the deletion log, but your edits disappear once the article is deleted. The Evil Clown my contributions 13:52, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * If you are willing to have a long watchlist, that is a good way of checking for deletions because the links will turn red. Adrian M. H.  14:22, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Question
Hello,

I was very interested in contributing about gemstone, seashell mosaics, etc. This was a few years ago. Today I was researching the words 'byzantine mosaic' and found a listing the includes a website address. I was told that I could not include mine. I would like to know how this happened. Thank you. Stephanie Dittrick, Email: (email removed)

Thank you for your help.

This is how it reads:

Mosaiclegs is a company that specializes in architectural mosaic design Their art studio preserves the ancient techniques of the handcrafted mosaic decorations using both byzantine smalti glass and marble. Further information can be found at http://www.mosaiclegs.com
 * It is correct to say that you should not create or edit an article about you, your company, your family, and so on. See COI. That does not necessarily mean that the subject is never going to be eligible for inclusion, because that is covered by Notability. I cannot comment on the notability of this particular subject, since I have not yet seen the article. Adrian M. H.  14:51, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * WP:COI says:
 * if you have a conflict of interest, you should avoid or exercise great caution when: ... editing articles related to you, your organization, or its competitors, as well as projects and products they are involved with.
 * I read that to mean that as long as an editor does not let the conflict of interest cause him or her to violate Wikipedia's core principles of WP:NPOV, WP:NOR, and WP:VERIFY, the editor may write about things he or she has a personal involvement with. In practice, of course, many editors will not be able to write with the necessary restraint about topics in which they have a strong emotional investment (see many of the religion articles), but editors who can muster the necessary restraint to "exercise great caution" should go ahead and write. I think the working rule should be that a person can write about anything as long as his or her writing is indistinguishable from that of a person with no interest in promoting the topic. That builds the encylopedia faster anyway, because usually the people who know the most about a topic are involved with it in some way. Would we say we don't want any of the scientists who have investigated Global warming to write about it here? --Teratornis 15:14, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Hence my use of "should not" rather than, say, "must not". I wouldn't really expect anyone to be able to write entirely without bias in that instance, though. Some bias is natural, and some OR is likely. <font color="#4B0082">Adrian <font color="#4B0082">M. H.  15:23, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I misunderstood your "should" to be more like "must"; my apologies. I would agree that most new users and a good many experienced editors will be hard-pressed to adhere to WP:NPOV, but my understanding of WP:AGF is that we assume people are trying to help. If they write non-neutrally and don't realize they are doing something wrong, (hopefully) other editors will catch the problem and provide the necessary correction. I would expect many, if not most people who are knowledgeable about a given topic will have some sort of a personal opinion about it &mdash; humans seem to have the perverse habit of forming strong opinions before all the facts are in. Probably not many Wikipedia editors arrived here already knowing how to write neutrally on subjects they are personally non-neutral about, but every Wikipedia editor must learn to do this. I would think trying to write neutrally about one's own company or organization, and then asking for a review by other editors, would be a good way to learn more about one's subsconscious biases. --Teratornis 18:20, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I think you're right. It is an acquired skill more than a natural skill, which comes with deliberate practice, and also, there has to be a conscious desire to achieve NPOV in such cases. No apology needed, by the way; my phrasing was a bit ambiguous. <font color="#4B0082">Adrian <font color="#4B0082">M. H.  20:28, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Userpage
Hello, Is there a particular wikipedia page/s that give temnplates that one can use on ones userpage? Templates which tell the users nationality, date of birth, etc, or even, templates which can be created by the user / guides how to do this? Any help greatly apprecated thanks Tresmius 14:40, 6 April 2007 (UTC)


 * See WP:Userboxes --Kainaw (talk) 14:50, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * If you cannot find a suitable userbox, you can make your own and store it in a sub-page of your userspace. <font color="#4B0082">Adrian <font color="#4B0082">M. H.  14:52, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

hey, can anybody tell me how to start a user page? I mean, I know how, but is there some sort of ettiquette or rules you should follow? --Bbobbob 18:02, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

how to upload a project
i made a project and i want to upload it how do i it's a .doc fileJoey2007 15:28, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Is this going to be used as an article, i.e. is it going to be in the mainspace such as Harry Potter or sausage? If so, just type into the search box the article you want to create, and then click on the name when no results come up, and paste your information in there.  Remember to format it correctly for wikipedia.  Is this what you wanted?   Asics   talk  <font color="Black">Editor review! 15:54, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * In future, you may find it better to use Notepad for offline composition; save it in UTF and you will keep all the special characters that are part of Wiki markup, but there is much less risk of having any formatting that won't transfer. I use that approach a lot. <font color="#4B0082">Adrian <font color="#4B0082">M. H.  16:00, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * wikEd can convert some Word features, such as tables, to wikitext. Further manual editing will almost certainly be necessary, however, to make the typical  file into an article conforming to WP:LAYOUT. --Teratornis 18:04, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

editing a hyperlink
How do I edit/change the partial sentences contained in a hyperlink?? Ziggyfirst 15:29, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Partial sentences? How do you mean? <font color="#4B0082">Adrian <font color="#4B0082">M. H.  15:43, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I would assume he means that if I'm trying to link to yahoo and type think this is a good site. But because the "I" is next to the adress it sends you to the wrong place. To fix this simply insert a space after the end of the adress: I think this is a good site. which produces: I think this is a good site. For more informatio you can read How to edit a page. Hope this answers your question. --Ybbor<sup style="color:green;">Talk <b style="color:orange;">Survey!</b> 16:00, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Calling an article a stub
Several articles about radio stations that I have helped edit are identified as stubs. I saw that two radio stations that I knew some information about had no articles, so I created brief articles that should be considered stubs. But I try to read the information about stubs and get completely lost.

My articles are about WIST-FM and WBLO-AM radio stations. Vchimpanzee 16:08, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I would call them stubs. If you know of a specific template - something like "this media-related article is a stub" - then use that. Otherwise, just add the standard template. <font color="#4B0082">Adrian <font color="#4B0082">M. H.  17:10, 6 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Rule of thumb: whenever one wants to edit articles in a certain topic category, one should see if one or more WikiProjects oversee such articles. Browsing around from the WikiProjects page leads to: WikiProject_Council/Directory/Science, which has an entry: WikiProject Radio Stations. WikiProject Radio Stations lists some stub templates for radio station articles. --Teratornis 17:58, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I ought to have suggested that, but it didn't cross my mind, even though I participate in a number of Wikiprojects! They can be a good source of assistance to new or less experienced editors. <font color="#4B0082">Adrian <font color="#4B0082">M. H.  20:31, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

I see what I want at the base of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WKQC but have no idea how to put that there. I have no idea what a "standard template" is.Vchimpanzee 18:35, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * In this case, stub-- VectorPotential Talk 18:44, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Okay, thanks, I got it. I saw at least part of what I needed while editing another article, and I copied it.Vchimpanzee 19:52, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * It is generally a good idea to look at WikiProject Stub sorting/Stub types rather than just use stub. In this case, NorthCarolina-radio-station-stub looks like what you want. DES (talk) 20:20, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Translating articles
Hi,

My native language is Spanish, but I speak English and French too. I have experince translating documents such as handbooks, movies and others. I would like to translate some articles that have not been translated yet. What do I need to do?

Thank you,

Macogoetz 18:20, 6 April 2007 (UTC)


 * There is a project where users can request articles be translated. Its at Translation. As you have already registered, you can start an article if you find one in another language (there is a partial list of other language Wikipedias at the bottom of the Main Page) that does not exist in English. However, since the English Wikipedia is the largest, you may be able to provide more help in another language. This page on the Spanish Wikipedia may help and this page on the French Wikipedia may be of interest. You will have to register separately in each language in order to create new articles on each Wikipedia. Mr.Z-man  talk <i style="color:navy; font-family:cursive;">¢</i> 19:50, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Password retrival
how can you retrieve your password and username if you forget it


 * in Firefox Select Tools > Options > Privacy > Saved passwords > Veiw saved passwords > Show > Yes.

Don't forget to click hide before you leave Hope that helps. And please sign using ~. « <font face="Papyrus">razorclaw » 19:34, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * If it's about your Wikipedia password. You can have a new one sent to you if you gave your email address when you signed up. - Mgm|(talk) 21:03, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

User CSS to alter tabs
Project page - Discussion - Edit this page - History - Watch
 * to

Home - Talk - Edit - Hist - Watch
 * Thanks for the help, « <font face="Papyrus">razorclaw » 19:38, 6 April 2007 (UTC)


 * See Skins. - Mgm|(talk) 21:01, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

addOnloadHook(function{ document.getElementById("ca-edit").firstChild.innerHTML = "edit";}); To change the other tabs, in a new line put that code and replace ca-edit with "ca-nstab-project" "ca-talk" "ca-edit" "ca-history" or "ca-watch". Replace edit with the new text. ca-nstab-project will only change tabs that currently say "Project page." If you want to change the ones that say "article" use "ca-nstab-main". You can also use "ca-nstab-image" and "ca-nstab-template". --Werdan7T @ 23:59, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Actually, this can't be done with CSS, it needs javascript. Here's a method by Mdd4696, of WikiProject User scripts. To change "edit this page" to "edit," add  this line to User:Razorclaw/monobook.js

Green man info
I have a bit of (what I consider to be relevant) information to add to an article about the Green Man. I have a picture of the largest Green Man sculpture in the world, 12 meters high to be precise. The picture was taken by me and the sculpture was made by me. Is it legit to add info like this which altho of general interest also contains personal information about myself? Thanks for any advice --Toinadams 20:05, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Has any newspaper or other reliable source covered or discussed your sculpture? If not, the information really does not belong on wiklipedia. Also, writing about one's own work can be a problem, see our conflict of interest page. A picture, if reelased under the GFDL (for example with the nGFDL-self tag), if it adds to the general article, might be worthwhile, buit that article is already fairly well illustrated. DES (talk) 20:16, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Yes the Sunday Times, the Independent and various other tabloid dailies - I have copies of all this editorial. It's also been documented in a couple of books altho don't have copies of those. It has become something of a landmark in Birmingham UK. I do take the point about conflict of interest hence my asking about adding the information! I guess the bit of information that might be of encyclopaedic interest is the fact that it is the biggest in the world. (http://www.steelsculpt.com/web albums/Public Commissions/greenman/slides/11.html) It doesn't have to mention my name really. Thanks--Toinadams 20:32, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes, if newspapers covered it, it's fine to add it. Just make sure you also provide the information people need to find those newspaper mentions. See Citation templates specifically cite news and ref-tags that allow you to stick those citations in with the text but appear in the reference section at the bottom of the article. If all that formatting is too complicated for you, just provide me with the information and I'll do the formatting for you. - Mgm|(talk) 20:59, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Display on Google
Does anyone know why a subpage of mine is listed as a hit on google, but the main page of that subpage (my userpage) is displayed as a subpage in this search.? --TeckWiz Parlate Contribs@(Lets go Yankees!) 22:04, 6 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, I see that it is a redirect page, that also references your main page. It may be it shows the linked page indented because it understands the "real content" is located at the user page.  (fuzzy interpretation)  As for why it might pickup that page 'first', rather than the user page, could it be because the "/@" page has very little text, but the term 'TeckWiz' is repeated three times?  That is, this page _must_ be a better hit because the proportion of term to text is favorable? (speculation is fun, when it's not your money) Shenme 22:38, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Reverting an image?
How do I/can someone revert this image http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mk1.jpg back to the one uploaded 22 October 2006? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.92.150.232 (talk • contribs)
 * Ask an administrator. <b style="color:teal; font-family:georgia;">Real96</b> 23:18, 6 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Someone already did. - Mgm|(talk) 00:33, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Apologies for not commenting here, but I was on my way out the door, and didn't have the time. If you scroll down you'll see a link called "File history," listing the old versions of the image. Find the version you want to replace, and click the "rev" button (short for revert) next to it, to the left of the timestamp. No need to contract an administrator (unless the version you want is so old that it's deleted). --Ybbor<sup style="color:green;">Talk <b style="color:orange;">Survey!</b> 02:48, 7 April 2007 (UTC)