Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 July 10

= July 10 =

Pam Parsons
Pam Parsons. I have come here on several ocassions and have never found an article on the University of South Carolina basketball coach from the 1980's. How can that be possible? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Special:Contributions/ (talk)


 * Either she doesn't satisfy Notability (people), or nobody has bothered to create an article about her. A university coach from before Wikipedia was created and with only 600 Google hits including others with the same name? I would have been surprised if her biography had been among our articles. PrimeHunter 01:11, 10 July 2007 (UTC)


 * The closest approach seems to be South Carolina Gamecocks which lists the current coach as Susan Walvius but does not have a link even on her name. Wikipedia's coverage is still sparse for marginally notable topics. As to how this can be possible, walk down the street and ask everyone you see if they are contributing to Wikipedia yet. You may have to ask a lot of people to find the first one who says yes. Even though Wikipedia has  registered users, and many more unregistered users, only a small fraction are adding serious amounts of encyclopedic content. So even though we have a lot of articles, Wikipedia may have to double in size a few more times before we exhaust the number of topics we could write about. If you want to start an article on Pam Parsons, first find some reliable sources about her that you can cite, then see Help:Starting a new page. But beware that many new articles by new users end up getting deleted for failing to comply with Wikipedia policies. --Teratornis 04:22, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

HELP ME!
AYUDA, NECESTO A PUCSAR A ONA SITE QUE SE YAMA WIKIPEDIA???GRACIAS, HERMANO!TE QUERO MUCHO TU AYUDA!JOSé HERNANDEZ Dé BRAZIL —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Special:Contributions/ (talk)
 * This is the English Wikipedia. It appears from your other edits that you know some English (and like to vandalize Wikipedia), but are better at Spanish. Maybe you would prefer to use (or vandalize) the Spanish Wikipedia. PrimeHunter 00:57, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * lol!--Banana 04:33, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Being from Brazil. perhaps the person would find the Portuguese Wikipedia  interesting, although per Babelfish, the post does not translate well from Portuguese to English. nor does it translate smoothly from Spanish. My translation based on a vague knowledge of "Spanish As She Is Spoke" would be (allowing for some typos) "Help. I need (pucsar?) to (ona?) (site?) called Wikipedia. Thanks, brother! I like to help you(familiar) very much. (or I like your help very much). Jose Hernandez from Brazil. Edison 05:00, 10 July 2007 (UTC)


 * The IP claims to want Spanish in: . However, it may just be an excuse for not following things written in English. The IP looks like a vandal and has been blocked. PrimeHunter 05:23, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Shelley Mack
who is Shelley Mack? The actress on who plays Penny on "Las Vegas"? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Special:Contributions/ (talk)


 * We don't have an article about Shelley Mack. You can look for information at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1659522/ and in a Google search. PrimeHunter 01:19, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

logging in
i am unable to create an account, because i can never type the correct letter coding for ensured privacy, although it looks fine to me every time. What am i doing wrong?
 * hmmm. . .I'm not sure what to tell you. Could you ask someone else to help you read it? --Banana 04:28, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Also, our article on CAPTCHA saids "People with other disabilities (such as color blindness or text recognition disabilities) might find CAPTCHAs harder to solve than the general population." Hope this helps. --Banana 04:32, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * You can use Request an account. PrimeHunter 05:03, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

"Ref name" tool
When citing a reference and naming it with "ref name" at the top, then citing the reference again using  at the end of the last sentence in a section, it makes the heading (and somtimes contents) of the next section disappear. Is there any way to prevent this, or am I doing something wrong? • 97198  talk  05:41, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * You've got the syntax wrong -- it's not  . --Haemo 05:42, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Ahhh... Thanks a bunch. • 97198  talk  05:44, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

David Bowie article
I know this is not the place for this, but there is a reference needed on the david bowie article for hs parents origines and it can be checked from here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWH4O9cXjzg&mode=related&search= it´s a DB interview on some british talk show. It is reeeeally boring to read all the thinks you intend users to read just to say "hey, i know where you can confirm that!". So i put it in here, sorry.

Heres the ref, formatted: --06:00, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I've added it to the article for you. Thanks. --Cherry blossom tree 07:55, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * RTFM is indeed boring for some, perhaps even for most of the 98% of the general population not in the Cognitive elite, but Wikipedia is a document-driven project, and the extraordinary efficiency resulting from communicating via collaboratively-edited documents is essential to keeping Wikipedia free. Consider, by writing something down, you only have to say it once, and thereafter any number of other people can read what you wrote without consuming more of your time. Instead of repeating yourself endlessly, you can go on to add value somewhere else. This is why literate peoples are able to vastly outcompete illiterate peoples. In a culture of illiterate people, the enormous inefficiency of having to rely exclusively on verbal communication bogs them down and prevents them from developing any sort of complex society - because every time someone needs information, they have to waste the time of someone else by obliging them to repeat it out loud. Illiterate cultures cannot easily coordinate their actions in large numbers, they cannot exploit division of labor very well, and their cultures can only produce simple artifacts. Although from time to time some of them did manage to organize themselves into fearsome barbarian hordes, the Industrial revolution led to modern weaponry which put a quick stop to that.
 * Even in a nominally literate culture, some individuals and groups of individuals are more literate than others. That is, different people within the culture rely on verbal vs. literate communication to varying degrees. Wikipedia is possibly one of the most literate subcultures which has yet existed - we do almost everything in writing, and a sizable percentage of the writing yields formal documents suitable for highly productive reference, rather than one-off disposable messages such as these Help desk questions and replies. Accordingly, Wikipedia is doing things that would have seemed unimaginable ten years ago: here we have the largest encyclopedia ever written, and it's almost all being done with volunteer labor. Wikipedia succeeds because anyone who is smart enough to read and follow instructions can get right to work. The incremental cost to train another volunteer is almost zero. About all we might have to do is point them to the manuals on the Help desk, and leave them clues in our edit summaries when we touch up their work. So rather than loathe those manuals, you should come to view them as the source of everything you like about Wikipedia. And get to know them well. --Teratornis 15:16, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Bias
Hello,

I was wondering how I can go about reporting a page for bias, so that it can be reviewed by people who edit wikipedia.

thank you!


 * If you add NPOV to the top of an article then it produces this warning.
 * --Cherry blossom tree 07:52, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * But be sure that you indicate on the article's Talk page, what you find biased about the article, or else your NPOV tag will be removed. Corvus cornix 20:44, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Fidel Castro and the 1947 Pittsburgh Pirates.
I heard Fidel Castro was a possible prospect player for the 1947 Pittsburgh Pirates. I'm trying to find out whether or not this is true, and this usually is one of the first places I look for such information. I can't seem to find anything of the sort on Wikipedia anywhere could you help me?
 * This page is for questions about Wikipedia. The reference desk deals with knowledge questions such as yours - I suggest you ask there. --Cherry blossom tree 07:57, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * You can search Wikipedia with Google for: Fidel Castro baseball and find some interesting bits. --Teratornis 15:24, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * For example see this urban legends reference page. I've heard this legend before, and each time it involves a different MLB team. And see Havana Sugar Kings. --Teratornis 15:30, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I believe he had a tryout for the Washington Senators but was never invited back. Smartyshoe 22:33, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Time Computer
All information about our company has been erased? We have been deleted from the list of watchmakers too. Our information was there 60 day ago so someone has deleted it since then.

Company: Time Computer, Inc.

Regards, Dennis L. Klein President, CEO Time Computer, Inc. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Oldpulsars (talk • contribs)


 * The argument for deletion is given at Time Computer. See also Why was my page deleted? and Business FAQ. PrimeHunter 13:15, 10 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Note that there was an entirely unrelated UK company called Time Computer (a well-known highstreet builder of desktop computers) which went bust a few years ago. While it sounds like Mr Klein's company doesn't make the WP:CORP cut, I think that defunct company does (see this summary).  Note that Wikipedia does have an article about a related company Time UK; that article is sorely in need of NPOV and sources. -- Mr Ubami 13:32, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

CPDL Function
Could someone please tell me when CPDL might be up and running again? I have not been able to connect to the website for about a week now. What is the problem? Many thanks.


 * This help desk is for questions about using Wikipedia. Reference desk is for questions unrelated to Wikipedia, but in this case you might get better information at http://www.choralwiki.org/phpBB2/index.php. Choral Public Domain Library and http://www.choralwiki.org/ may be of interest. You may also be able to find automatically archived pages at http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.cpdl.org/ and the Cached links at http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.cpdl.org%2F PrimeHunter 14:19, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Entry not posted on internet
Hi there,

I have recently created an entry on "Adam Solomon", a Kenyan musician.

However, this listing does not seem to be available on the 'net. It does not appear after "Adam Solomon" is entered in the search engine.

Can you help?

Thank you,

Nancy L. Barrett User goldengooseproductions


 * Hi! Search Engines (such as Google) update their indexes only once in a while, so it may be a while before it appears in any search engines. Don't worry, the article is there or people browsing or searching Wikipedia to see. Eventually, the search engines will get around to re-indexing Wikipedia, but that's their responsibility, not ours. :) -- Stwalkerster  talk 15:01, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Photos
When writing about a city, how do I move photos or images (like a map) from one area to anothe?

How do I insert photos into information about a city?

Thank you.

Scottsdaleowosso 15:42, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * See Help:Images and other uploaded files. --Teratornis 16:11, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

login
What should I do if I forgot my password?


 * If you put an e-mail address into the box on your Preferences page, you can click the 'E-mail new password' button. :) -- Stwalkerster  talk 16:15, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Citation needed for original source?
I added an entry to Freeman Dyson's page about a year ago concerning a boy who was named after him in Kansas. I now see that it says "citation needed" by the entry. There is no citation, as I am the original source, being the boy's father. I can forward you emails exchanged between Mr. Dyson and my wife and myself collaborating what I added to the article, if you like. HiRez_L —The preceding unsigned comment was added by HiRez L (talk • contribs).


 * Our policies require verifiable published reliable sources for Wikipedia content, and we have especially strict rules regarding living people. Your post indicates no acceptable sources exist, so the information may soon be removed from Freeman Dyson. Unpublished emails are insufficient, and it's not good enough that you personally know something is true. Also note that many things that do have a reliable source are not considered notable enough to be mentioned in Wikipedia. And see Conflict of interest. PrimeHunter 16:57, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Whats the correct format for citing this book?

 * See WP:CITE. Shalom Hello 19:08, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Comment does not display on a talk page
I added a comment to a talk page, and it shows up in the history of the talk page but does not display. A later comment by someone else does display. Here is a diff for their comment and here is the page as it presently displays:. At the bottom of the page it says it was last modified "16:06, 10 July 2007" which is the time of my nondisplayed post, and this ignores the time of the later post which is displayed. What gives? Thanks. Edison 16:59, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * It was an unclosed &lt;ref> tag in a previous comment that was causing problems for the rest of the page. I've reconstructed the page, but the signatures didn't expand properly; you probably want to go back and re-sign your comment. --ais523 17:04, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

using material from our own website-Cuban American National Foundation page
I am the Government Relations and Communications Director for the Cuban American National Foundation. I recently tried to edit the page you have on us which is rife with errors and inflammatory statements by subsituting what is there for the information we have up on our site. The page was then reverted back and i was sent a message claiming that the information there was copied from the CANF website, which it was, because we ARE CANF! Can you please help me with this? Cubandemocracy 17:35, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I replied on User talk:Cubandemocracy. Shalom Hello 19:04, 10 July 2007 (UTC)


 * As I indicated on your User Talk page, Please read the section at Copyright problems headed "Copyright owners who submitted their own work to Wikipedia". Corvus cornix 20:23, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Hi again,

Thanks for the info regarding removing a no-copyright-tag warning from my photo, Image:AdamSolomonArt.JOPG. However, I do not know how to remove the notice. Any suggestions? Note: Since this photo was perceived not to be very "encyclopedic", I shall endeavour to replace it with something apparently more suitable. However, there was no lettering in my original photo, even before the photoshopped art. Thanks Goldengooseproductions 15:04, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Copyright tags for photos
Hi there,

By the way, thanks those of you who answered my previous question.

Here's another, unfortunately: I have added a photo which I created myself onto the Adam Solomon entry. There is now a message asking for me to apply a copyright tag. However, right underneath that message is another message stating that this image is now in the public domain (as I had intended). Why I am getting two conflicting messages?

Thanks, Goldengooseproductions 17:41, 10 July 2007 (UTC)


 * I assume you're speaking of Image:AdamSolomonArt.JPG. If you are the copyright owner, just remove the notice from the page leaving your tag. On a side note, this image with the border and added background is not very encyclopedic. The border also appears to have lettering from a possible copyright. Lara Love  T / C  17:46, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

heavy dump truck driver
need a truck driver too drive an empty three axel truck from va. to ca. one way only.
 * Sorry, Wikipedia is not a truck driver. :) But good luck anyway. Shalom Hello 18:58, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Adding new content
Your instructions are very convoluated and hard to follow. Is there a quick and easy way to figure out how to a) post new information and b) write in a format that's acceptable to Wiki editors?

Also, I want to change my username but can't figure out how to do that. Please help
 * I will reply on User talk:Kaymalchow. Shalom Hello 18:52, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Dear Wikipedia admins
What you're about to witness now, is a REVOLUTION. If you're not fimiliar with PDEng, a course offered at the waterloo, Don't worry, Because over the next few days you're going to. Every article, and i mean EVERY ARTICLE on wikipedia is going to have a section about pdeng. You can't stop it. We've found ways, and we'll find more ways. Ofcourse you could stop it by helping us out. All we need is one page of your website. Just one page. An article that we would like to write about PDEng, without it being deleted. With the number of people and other resources we have to carry out our task, it will take you days to stop us, even if you try really hard. I suggest/request your cooperation. With Much Love, Rebels Against PDEng
 * I am not an admin, and have no privilidge to make a decision myself, but perhaps you could try creating the page about PDEng (which means you'll need to register) and see if it gets deleted. Also, blackmail never helps. Smartyshoe 19:14, 10 July 2007 (UTC)


 * PDEng has been deleted once . PrimeHunter 19:25, 10 July 2007 (UTC). Deleted 4 times now. PrimeHunter 19:37, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Who posted that again? ~Crowstar~ 21:26, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * There's millions of articles, and you're saying that you're going to vandalize every single one? That will only result in having your IP range being indefinitely blocked and all your vandalism/spam reverted by the thousands of dedicated editors such as myself. Useight 22:11, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Anyway, you have probably mistook Wikipedia for an advertisement service. In fact, it is an encyclopedia where people should find information about what they want to know, not about what you want them to know. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 12:35, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Text in boxes
Whenever I have tried to add to wikipedia it looks great in the text entry area. When I save and view the text it is wrapped in boxes made by dashes and half of the text is missing! Thanks for the help!!! John www[dot]pressjohn[dot]com 19:33, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Remove all spaces at the beginning of the lines and the text will display correctly.--Alf melmac 19:36, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Medal for the Liberation of Prague
Medal for the Liberation of Prague Can someone help me format the notes, I'm having trouble. Thanks. --LtWinters 19:48, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Fixed in PrimeHunter 22:56, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Thankyou primehunter. --LtWinters 01:02, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

how do I secure benefits from my deceased husband
I was married for 15 years and then divorced from my husband. He passed away April 2007. How do I apply for benefits?
 * call your lawyer. Kwsn (Ni!) 20:09, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Category Search
Is there a way that I can search for existing categories?
 * You can search in categories by typing a search term in the normal box, click "Search" and not "Go", check "Category" in the box at the bottom and uncheck "Main", and then use the bottom search box. See also Special:Categories. PrimeHunter 23:01, 10 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Yes. To elaborate:
 * Method 1: Type something into the search box and click "Search". Then, when the search page comes up, scroll to the bottom, uncheck the box marked "(Main)" and check the one marked "Category". Type some text in the big search box and click "Search"
 * Pro: Can search the text in a category.
 * Con: May not show new additions, depending on when the database was last updated.
 * Method 2: Go to Special:Prefixindex. Type in the beginning of a category name in the box, and in the drop-down list select "Category". Click the button.
 * Pro: (To my knowledge) up to date.
 * Con: Can only search by the begining of the category name (so, e.g. "lacking" will not give you "Category:Articles lacking sources"). Confusing Manifestation 23:04, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Fixing infoboxes
There seems to be a problem with the Template:Infobox Stadium. Some information inserted on the edit page does not appear on the article page. For example in the article Millennium Dome the template below was put on the edit page. However some of the information inserted here, does not appear on the article page. For example the information inserted for services engineer.

Is there a way to fix this? ThanksTbo 157 20:42, 10 July 2007 (UTC)


 * It appears the template documentation contains parameters that are simply not in the template code. I'm not a template coder. You can ask for help at Requested templates. PrimeHunter 23:36, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Page creation question
I notice that a number of publishing houses have pages, although your guidelines say please don't promote your business or product here. They seem to have specific enough information (eg, Baen Books) that someone close to the company seems to be writing the info. I'm asking on behalf of my publisher, Dragon Moon Press, if someone associated with DMP like an editor, author, webmaster, etc, can create such a page. DMP is small but legitimate (ie, not a vanity press) but it does not have the resources of a publishing giant like Baen or Tor but it publishes award-winning books that have other interesting distinctions (books making #1 on Amazon, a business model that is making the publishing community sit up and take notice) and it seems as worthy of notice on a site like Wikipedia as the bigger houses (in fact, this does seem like a subtle bias that a large house and all its authors and books could be listed while a smaller house is precluded for whatever reason if we're following the rules as posted). Would a house like DMP simply need an enthusiastic, wiki/web literate fan to create the page, or would one of the above be acceptable? Thanks, Karen/minissa Minissa 21:01, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Please read WP:COI. If you can write the article in a neutral and verifiable manner, it would be an acceptable article, but many companies cannot manage that. If nothing else, you can request someone else write an article for you. -- Kesh 01:10, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Colorize a grid?
I am using the following to colorize the top row of a grid, however I cant seem to figure out how to colorize each indvidual cell with unique colors. Is there a way to do this? Thx!

COLOR GRID —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Bpomykala (talk • contribs).


 * See Help:Table. PrimeHunter 03:57, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks! Perfect!

ok..I need some help..
ive asked before and got told no. So i will ask one more time. I am moving my pictures from here to the commons. however i want them first deleting from here before i move them there. dont ask why. I just want it to happen this way ok? (yes im OCD..i just need it to hapen this way)

the pictures i need deleting are Image:Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Front Gate.jpg and Image:Reichstag House Of Parliament.jpg.

Please? Fethroesforia 21:14, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

How can I delete a page I have created?
How can I delete a page I have created?

--Leonhutton 21:14, 10 July 2007 (UTC) leonhutton

Use the template- ~Crowstar~ 21:21, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Good faith edit?
Was this a good faith edit? It looks like he was trying to be good after my various warnings, but it might be vandalism... Help here? ~Crowstar~ 21:20, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * IMHO it looks like he was just really confused. --Banana 22:08, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

What to do when a group of editors are resistant to improving an article?
I discovered the World War Z article recently after reading the book, and observed that the article consists just about entirely of an INCREDIBLY long and detailed plot summary (some of which has been moved to other articles such as Characters in World War Z and Enemies in World War Z). The article is a massive violation of WP:NOT, with some WP:OR mixed in (not a single reference is cited for anything). The problem (as seen in the Talk page, particularly whenever someone tries to point out that Wikipedia DOES have policies and standards) is that multiple editors consistently revert (as "vandalism") any attempt at improvement through paring down the summary and removing the violating parts of the article. None of the information I can find about dispute resolution on Wikipedia seems to apply to a situation of many editors who actively wish to defy policy in order to protect "their" article. Is there any recourse in this situation? Propaniac 21:20, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * A good way to do it is to start forking it off to other pages, like you've been doing. You can also file a request for comment on the page, outlining your revisions, and they can explain why they don't like them.  Just stick to it, and make sure you cite the heck out of things; since removing referenced material in favor of unreferenced OR is vandalism, and is not covered by the three revert rule --22:12, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Main HTML color
Can someone tell me the background color in HTML for the default monobook? Thanks! :) Rock star  ( T/C ) 22:19, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * And by background color I mean that light, sky blue color. Thanks! Rock star  ( T/C ) 22:20, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't know off the top of my head, but here is how I would look for it. On my user page, I have some useful searches:
 * Search Meta with Google
 * Search MediaWiki.org with Google
 * and I would search Meta for: background color monobook and search MediaWiki.org for: background color monobook. I see a few potentially promising search results but I don't have time to look through them at the moment. I'll check back later to see if anybody else posts and answer for you. --Teratornis 01:47, 11 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks! I'll take a look and see what I can dig up. Rock star  ( T/C ) 19:01, 11 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Now that this question reappeared on the Help desk so I can update it, the answer may be in WP:COLOR (or WP:COLOUR for those on the right side of the pond). --Teratornis 19:47, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Putting a signature in a template
I remember having seen, in some template, a signature block ( ~ ) arranged in such a way that, when I posted the template, it automatically signed the comment inserted by the template. Does anyone know of a template that does that? Bart133 (t) (c) 22:24, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * You can, but make sure that:
 * The template is in your user space.
 * You are substituting it, not transcluding it.
 * See WP:SIG for details about what is, and is not, allowed. --Haemo 22:28, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * You need to do something like: " " . Note that you must substitute the template. I think Haemo misunderstood your question.  Prodego  talk  22:33, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Sorry, yeah, it's looks like I did. My apologies.  --Haemo 04:07, 11 July 2007 (UTC)
 * is an example of a template that does this, if you just want to see the wikitext in action. --JayHenry 06:29, 11 July 2007 (UTC)