Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 September 25

= September 25 =

mental help link
Where is the mental help link located? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.182.86.253 (talk) 01:44, 25 September 2007 (UTC)


 * This is an encyclopedia. I'm not sure what type of link you are looking for but note that Wikipedia does not give medical advice. PrimeHunter 01:56, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

how to write an articles in wikipedia?
it is my first time to visit wiipedia, and i am interested in writing a an articles for wikipedia. but how? do you mind explain me the step? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.130.204.252 (talk) 02:01, 25 September 2007 (UTC)


 * You will need to first register an account, which has many benefits, including the ability to create articles. Once you have registered, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.


 * Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.


 * If you still think an article is appropriate, see Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at Your first article and How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. PrimeHunter 02:04, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Image
How do you upload your own image on your user page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Softballchick12 (talk • contribs) 02:07, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * You can follow the instructions at Upload and you can read more at Images. Most likely, you'd need to release your image under a free license. Leebo  T / C 03:16, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Are user pages GFDL licenced? — PhilHibbs | talk 14:41, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

George William Gordon
Your Wikipedia Encyclopedia has George William Gordon being born in 1820. For many years this was thought to be the correct date. I suspected this to be incorrect as he owned property in 1836 and therefore would only have been 16 years old. As a Genealogist I researched this and have found his Baptismal Entry in the St. Andrew Parish Register Volume 3 Folio 53 that shows he was baptised at the age of 3 months (approx) on 27 December 1815. I can submit a copy of this entry if required. Please advise.

Donald Lindo () —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.27.154.253 (talk) 03:08, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Disputed facts require reliable sources to stand on. If reliable sources say that he was born in 1820 and you only have original research without any published references, then 1820 is the more reliable date. It is against Wikipedia policy to publish original findings or research. It needs to be published first; if that's the case, you can cite yourself, but only if your research has appeared in reliable source. Leebo  T / C 03:13, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm a little surprised that a baptismal record in a church isn't considered a reliable source. What's the difference between "I found an academic journal that said that George was born in 1815", and "I found a baptismal record that said that George was born in 1815"? Both required searching on the part of the editor to discover the information, and both required the editor to exercise their judgement in deciding that it's the same George as the one in the article. — PhilHibbs | talk 14:36, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * I must have misread the question. The way I read it, it seemed like he had researched this and come up with something that was not on record anywhere. If the date is on record, it shouldn't be disputed in the first place. Leebo  T / C 17:53, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

disambiguate a person
hi I would like to disambiguate the page for Anthony Howell the actor born 1971 to include or refer to or disambiguate to a page to describe Anthony Howell the artist born in the 40s - actually though less commercial a major international artist. He is mentioned in other pages but not linked to.

I created the page but I can't link to it as the other guy shows up everytime.

ft —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fionatempleton (talk • contribs) 04:11, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * All done. Anthony Howell now links to a disambig page that lists both the actor and the performance artist. GlassCobra 05:53, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Monobook skin bugged?
When I goto http://en.wikipedia.org/, instead of getting the normal layout for "MonoBook (default)" with the puzzle piece globe, search bar on left hand corner and text in arial; i get a skin that looks like so:

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/6595/wikiwtfex3.jpg

Note: my skin selected is MonoBook, but i can't change it back to the old skin. Is this a permanent change for the english wikipedia? Is this a problem on my side? I checked the other language wiki's and they still have the old MonoBook layout. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Samuelb88 (talk • contribs) 05:41, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * The problem was somewhere in the Internet between Wikipedia and your browser; what's happened was a one-off glitch that prevented the stylesheet data being sent correctly or corrupted it (this happens at random from time to time). Bypass your cache (instructions are on the linked page), and your browser should request a corrected version of the stylesheet for you, putting everything back to normal. --ais523 09:43, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

finding when text was added to an article
I'm sure I read recently that someone had a tool that enabled you to locate which edit introduced a particular item of text into an article. Can anyone direct me to that tool? &mdash; Timotab Timothy (not Timdagnabbit!) 06:18, 25 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Not remembering the actual name, but suspecting it had something to do with "querying" the database, I search the page for "query". Result? The thread and User:AmiDaniel/WhodunitQuery. Confusing Manifestation 06:27, 25 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Thank you. Next problem, I'm not running Windows.  On the other hand, my further research tells me I no longer need it. Thanks anyway. &mdash; Timotab Timothy (not Timdagnabbit!) 06:40, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Test Cases
where to find details abt test cases of various user interfaces? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.254.179.254 (talk) 08:58, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Does GUI software testing help? --Teratornis 06:33, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

Test Cases
where to find details abt test cases of various user interfaces? Nitasha   —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.254.179.254 (talk) 09:00, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Not actually sure what your question is. Is it to do with which user interface for, say, a computer, was most effective?  x42bn6 Talk Mess  10:52, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Gimme_More
Reference 6... what is going on???--Mostargue 09:27, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Someone removed the first instance of a cite, and the second one (which only carries a name) broke. It should be fixed now. --Pekaje 10:15, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * And interestingly enough, that warning is actually a very recent feature (I just finished reading The Signpost). Should help fix up a lot of references.  Now they just need a big fat warning when there are more opening tags than closing, as that tends to hide text. --Pekaje 13:29, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

phrase not found- what did I wrong
I was hoping that I could find references and explanations, definitions about certain expressions: like "patently contradictory". Why could Wki not find this phrase and give me an exact definition? What did I wrong? I used the SEARCH function. Thanks Gottfried —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.216.128.245 (talk) 09:42, 25 September 2007 (UTC)


 * You may be looking for Wiktionary. Both words are defined there: patently contradictory.  There is really not a lot to write an encyclopedia article about, and Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. --Pekaje 10:18, 25 September 2007 (UTC)


 * For the relevant policy, see What Wikipedia is not and Wikipedia is not a dictionary. PrimeHunter 14:27, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Hm. References disappeared?
Could someone have a look at the page Red Angus? In the normal window, there is no See Also, or References and External Links- however, when clicking the edit window and scrolling, it appears there. Anybody know what's wrong?  Cat tleG  irl   talk 10:33, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * 'Twas a broken reference tag:  x42bn6 Talk Mess  10:45, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Inserting references
Can you please tell me how to insert references into an entryBronwynhelicopter1 11:19, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * WP:REF has all the instructions. In short, references look like this : and then to display them, . &mdash; Malcolm (talk) 22:43, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Perfect. Thank you!  Into The Fray  T / C  22:45, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Similarly, you might be looking for Cquote, which is a more graphical version. Cheers, ARkY // ¡HaBLaR!  00:12, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

create account
i am trying to create an account and it tells me i can't log in because i have no account!!??? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.141.107.23 (talk) 22:42, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Hmm. Not sure on this one. Try visiting Special:Userlogin and clicking the "create one" link that appears above the login.  If you do that and are still getting an error message, please let us know exactly what the error message is.  Alternatively, visit Request an account and follow the instructions there to have someone create an account for you.  You will need a valid email address for that method.   Into The Fray  T /<font color="#999999"> C  23:38, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes, it seems you were trying to log in to an existing account, rather than create a new one. Follow Into The Fray's instructions and everything should work fine. Raven4x4x 00:37, 26 September 2007 (UTC)