Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 January 27

=January 27=

Where to buy?
Where could I buy a recording of the Vienna Symphony's 2007 Annual New Years's Day Concert, w/ Walter Cronkite, commentator? I'm looking for a copy on VHS or DVD.
 * Use Google. Xiner (talk, email) 00:47, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

If two people, by chance, edit the same page at the same time..
Say user A and user B both see that there is something they can contribute in an article. They both attempt to edit the page. What happens when the pages are saved? Will Wikipedia recognize that, for instance, if user A finished his edit before user B, that when B attempts to save the page, the system will reject the edit as the editing page was accessed from an older than current version of the article? Darkwhistle 00:10, 27 January 2007 (UTC)


 * If it's possible (if they edited completely different parts of the page, for example) then both edits will be saved. If the two edits conflict, then an edit conflict results, which asks the second user to integrate the edit into the changes made by the first. --Cherry blossom tree 00:16, 27 January 2007 (UTC)


 * But reverting edits do not cause edit conflicts...  Kamope ·  talk  ·  contributions   00:18, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Because when you revert, you create a new revision (3) that points to the same text as the original version (1), before the reverted edit (2) is introduced. Since revision 3 and revision 1 point to the same text in the Text table, there's no changes, at least in MediaWiki's mind, so there's no reason to throw an edit conflict screen. Tito xd (?!?) 00:22, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Help page says nothing on watchlist preferences, I'm confused by "Expand" pref
The Wikipedia help article Help:Preferences seems to say nothing about watchlist preferences, and I'm confused about one of the watchlist preferences. There's a preference for "Expand watchlist to show all applicable changes". I've tried it both ways, I don't understand what that preference is controlling, except I've determined that having it un-checked seems to give you a relatively worthless watchlist. Can anyone explain this pref? Should someone update the Help article? Jason C.K. 00:12, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * A non-expanded watchlist only shows the most recent change, an expanded watchlist shows every change on a particular day. This is normally useful, but if you watch a high traffic page then it can get confusing. This page received over 100 edits yesterday, for example and I imagine that Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents, for example, gets many times more. I've brought up the issue at m:Help talk:Watching pages and will update the help page if there are no complaints. --Cherry blossom tree 00:23, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Redirects from article space to user space
Are redirects such as http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=East_Prussian_Confederation&redirect=no allowed? AnonMoos 00:16, 27 January 2007 (UTC)


 * No.  Kamope ·  talk  ·  contributions   00:17, 27 January 2007 (UTC)


 * It was probably created unintentionally when the page was moved. I'll list it for deletion, if no-one else does first. --Cherry blossom tree 00:26, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

how
how do i edit wikopedia articles and save them so that everyone will see the changes i have made?
 * For starters, do not make edits like this one you made here: --Kukini 00:42, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Yup - you've done six edits - five of them posting juvenile obscenities to pages, and one (here) asking how to edit. It's difficult not to read the question as anything other than "how do I damage an article in a way that doesn't get reverted immediately".  And it's not exactly clear why anyone would want to answer that question for you.  -- John Broughton  (♫♫) 23:24, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Radcliffe Camera
Where do you go to report vandalism?

A picture of the Radcliffe Camera was photo of the day for Jaunuary 26, 2007. I clicked on the link for the article and found this:

70.135.122.53 00:59, 27 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Don't worry it's already been dealt with. You can revert vandalism yourself by clicking on the history tab and editing an older version (before the vandalism) Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 01:07, 27 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Here's more info on reverting vandalism: Help:Reverting. -- John Broughton  (♫♫) 15:53, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

"My Favorites" in Wikipedia
Is there any way to save favorite/interesting articles in a kind of "my favorites" area of Wikipedia? Has anyone thought of the idea to have a place to store links to wikipedia articles of interest, like browswer bookmarks or del.ici.ous, except that it would be right at your fingertips in Wikipedia: "my favorites", like "my contributions" and "my watchlist"? Cielovista
 * Well, I think you could use the watchlist for this, couldn't you? Another possibility is to make a list of articles on your userpage.  For example, mine has a list of stubs I've created (although I confess I don't keep it terribly up to date). -- SCZenz 01:22, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks, I'll try these options. But I think that would entail extra clicks... not ideal in terms of accessibility? Cielovista
 * That's what I use my Userpage for. Just link to the articles/sections in question there. Or, create a subpage (like User:Kesh/Articles) and link them on there, then link that from your Userpage. In your case, you might create User:Cielovista/My favorites and put links to your favorite articles there. -- Kesh 01:56, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Information on creating subpages can be found here. -- John Broughton  (♫♫) 15:50, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Download
how do i download the optical fiber pdf..???? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ravi047 (talk • contribs) 03:24, January 27, 2007
 * I'm not sure what you're referring to. Could you explain, please? -- Kesh 03:41, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

How do articles get indexed?
Hi, I'm new editing articles in the Encyclopedia. Have created a "stub" article yesterday and when searching for it it does not appear. However, when following the link from the Category where I've included it is there.

Should I do anything else to have it Indexed? Is there a checklist of basic, critical steps for creating a new article? (I've already read the tutorial)

The data about my article is:

Article name: Nahuel (Tank) Category: Argentine armored fighting vehicles

I used as a model the article on the argentine tank "TAM" (Tanque Argentino Mediano)

Thanks and Regards, Diego.
 * Hi Diego. I can see your article at Nahuel (tank), and any articles that you include that link in will allow people to reach your article immediately. You don't have to do anything special to get your article indexed. It happens automatically, but it's a little slow. It might not appear in searches for a few days yet. In the meantime, try to link your article from some other relevant articles. Unfortunately we don't yet have an article on the History of the Argentine Army but perhaps you can find a spot at Argentine Army, where if necessary you could create a new section for "historical vehicles". Hope that helps. — coe l acan t a lk  — 06:31, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Pictures from wikipedia in other languages
Is there an easy way to use images that appear in the wikipedias of other languages, or do I have to re-upload the files? Thanks! jamason 06:58, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * It depends. If they are actually on the and not on the other Wikipedias, then it's easy. You just use them here like they were already here. Example: This photo looks like it's on the German Wikipedia: de:Bild:Eisengallustinte Essenzen I und II und Tinte.jpg, but if you scroll down, it has the commons symbol and a link to its page there: commons:Image:Eisengallustinte Essenzen I und II und Tinte.jpg, and it can be used here natively: Image:Eisengallustinte Essenzen I und II und Tinte.jpg. But if the photo you want is not on the commons, then it will have to be reuploaded, if licensing permits. The best thing you could do in that case would be to upload it to the , so that everyone else on other Wikipedias will then be able to easily use it as well. — coe l acan  t a lk  — 07:31, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

So many abbreviations
I have found myself reading lots of interlaced wikipedia policies and guidelines, and am frustrated by the massive number of abbreviations used, such as "WP:ABC". Some policies have multiple abbreviations, and some abbreviations don't go to the most obvious policy. The worst thing I find is that when I hover the cursor over a link, the little yellow box that appears just tells me the abbreviation when I would be hoping to get the unabbreviated destination. I used dial-up, so following links just to check an abbreviation gets pretty tedious.

Is there an easy solution? If not, is there something I can do to discourage the continued use of abbreviations like this? I'd suggest that any and every abbreviation should be defined on first use on every page that it appears on.

Thanks. SmokeyJoe 07:29, 27 January 2007 (UTC)


 * See WTF? OMG! TMD TLA. ARG!. ;) But more seriously, there are an awful lot of acronyms and shortcuts. You can cut through some of it by seeing Shortcuts and Glossary, but the best thing, I find, is usually to avoid using the acronyms, or to use them with piped links describing their purpose, except for some of the very widely known ones. When working with people, and I'm not sure whether they'll know an acronym, I too recommend clarifying it, somehow. The shortcuts can save us all time, but they shouldn't be used too often, at the expense of those who aren't "in the know." Just my thought. Luna Santin 07:37, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Shortcuts? That's WP:CUTS, of course. And you can keep that open in a separate browser window (or tab if you use Firefox) while you use Wikipedia. Just switch windows and refer to it whenever you need to. That should save you time on dialup. Hope that helps. — coe l acan t a lk  — 07:43, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

aeroplane travel time
Sir, I want to know why the aeroplanes going to sanfrasisco from bombay takes more time while going and less time while coming back to bombay. r.k. mulay210.214.134.135 09:07, 27 January 2007 (UTC)r.k.mulay
 * Try the Reference desk. — coe l acan t a lk  — 09:11, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * And we're not all "sirs", by the way. =P — coe l acan t a lk  — 09:12, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * For the record, it has to do with air currents and the shape of the Earth. The fastest route between two points over a globe is actually a curve. However, the dominant winds in the Northern Hemisphere travel from west to east. So, travelling east from Bombay to San Francisco in the jet stream means the winds are behind you, pushing the plane along. Instead of taking the shorter curved route, a plane can actually fly faster by riding the jet stream across a longer distance. Coming back, they have to take the shorter route, but without the jet stream to increase their speed, so it actually takes longer. -- Kesh 21:10, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Three citations for the article on Asperger's Syndrome
I would like to contribute three citations from the professional literature about Asperger's Syndrome and psychological type. Unfortunately, I'm unfamiliar with Wikipedia's means and methods of doing so. If I could get a little help with the technical stuff, I'll provide the content.

Thanks,

R.G.C.


 * To add references, place &lt;ref> &lt;/ref> tags at the end of the sentence with one of the citation templates between them. Then place the &lt;references/> tag in a "Notes" or "References" section near the end of the article in case doesn't already exist. All additional references will appear there.  Michaelas10   (Talk)   10:03, 27 January 2007 (UTC)


 * You'll find a discussion of this at WP:FOOT and WP:CITE. Or look at an article with footnotes (typically listed in a "References" section) to see how it's done.  -- John Broughton  (♫♫) 15:47, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

C'mon guys, cut me some slack here. I'm a retired English teacher, not a techie. The references to WP:FOOT and WP:CITE may as well have been written in Martian. I have important information to contribute to the article on Asperger's Syndrome, but if I don't get some help, it won't happen.

R.G.C.
 * Do you mean that seeing WP:FOOT was confusing, or that the contents of the linked article were baffling? (Your answer may help improve things). Anyway, first step: have you identified exactly what statement(s) in the article can usefully use your citations? Notinasnaid 20:58, 27 January 2007 (UTC)


 * If nothing else, just place a message on the article's Talk page with the citation, and someone else can then add it to the article. Honestly, though, you don't need to be a techie to work on Wikipedia. Here's what you do:
 * Let's say your reference is "Smith, R: "Size of the Moon", Scientific American, 46(78):46." In that case, just put the
 * ... right after the text you're citing. Then, at the bottom of the page, there should be a Notes or References section. If there's not, add one by putting:
 * ==Notes==
 * ...at the bottom. Just below that, you want to tell it to insert the full reference citation:
 * button at the top of the page. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 22:43, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

ip addresses
my computer is currently networked with two others and shares the same ip address and share the same internet called internet explorer if i run my free 6 month trial aol disk will my ip address change? if so in how long and how frequlently? will it seprate from the other computers?--Crocadog 23:14, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Try the Reference desk, where you are more likely to get an answer to your question. — coe l acan t a lk  — 23:51, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Using a picture from Wikimedia Commons
I read in a previous post here: "if the image is at Wikimedia Commons, it can be accessed and used by all wikis without the need to reupload." How do I do this? --NorwegianBluetalk 23:33, 27 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Just link to it as you would any image. i.e.  gives you [[Image:Multimedia.png|20px]]. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 23:41, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * If you mean, how do I upload to Commons, see Commons. -- Kesh 00:13, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Thank you both! I thought I needed to do something special to link to images on Wikipedia Commons, but Consumed Crustacean cleared up that misunderstanding. And thank you Kesh, I also wanted to upload an image. --NorwegianBluetalk 01:45, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

Custom monobook.js
Is there a customized version of Monobook.js available on the english Wikipedia that Users can copy into their own to enhance the features of Wikipedia (like, if any of you know about it, the de:Benutzer:PDD/monobook.js on the German WP)? Thanks for your answers, Cheers, Regenspaziergang 23:55, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes, there's a special link that every user can use to get to their own. It's Special:Mypage/monobook.css. Peace, — coe l acan t a lk  — 00:03, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I meant Special:Mypage/monobook.js. Both exist. — coe l acan t a lk  — 00:04, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Ok, but is there a predefined, better version (probably done by an admin) that i can just copy and paste into my own? Cheers, Regenspaziergang 00:06, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
 * There a a lot of customized versions, editors tend to combine things to form their own personal version. Take a look at WP:US for some of the scripts. Prodego  talk  00:12, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Yay for me missing the point entirely. =P Thanks Prodego, I'll have to check out WP:US too. — coe l acan t a lk  — 01:14, 28 January 2007 (UTC)